After the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, doctors, especially women, have been facing apprehensions about their safety at the workplace.
In short
- Safety concerns rise among doctors after brutal RG Kar rape and murder incident
- Women doctors feel more unsafe in night shifts
- Doctors reveal that physical abuse of medical staff is common in India
“We have accepted that people may touch us inappropriately, and we cannot do anything about it because it is too crowded,” says Muskan Goyal*, a second year MBBS student at AIIMS Patna.
Muskaan never imagined that while she became a doctor in a prestigious government hospital, she would be touched or stared at inappropriately. Sadly, she says such incidents are often ‘ignored’, thinking ‘it must be a mistake’.
Muskan is not alone. Today, thousands of doctors, especially women, face similar problems and concerns and doubts about their safety have grown exponentially since the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
According to her, this anxiety increases even more if she has to work night shifts, but she cannot refuse.
“I can’t say no to night shifts just because I’m a woman,” she says.
Like Muskan, many other female doctors told us that after the incident, they are scared of working in the night shift.
“I am extremely disturbed (since the first day of the incident), I have lost sleep and I am scared to go back and do the night shift as I don’t know who to trust,” says Dr Rimjhim Ghosh*, a first year junior resident at Kolkata’s IPGME&R and SSKM Hospital.
For Rimjhim, working in hospitals during the day does not seem that unsafe as it is crowded with patients, groups of patients, her colleagues and all the hospital staff.
“But it feels even more unsafe at night, because we are alone, locked in the male ward in our on-call room,” she adds.
They also said missing and malfunctioning cameras at the hospital add to their stress and concern for their safety.
11 days have passed since the incident
It has been 11 days since the horrific incident at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital. The brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor on August 9 has sent shockwaves across the nation.
After this incident, questions have been raised about the safety of women not only in Kolkata but all over India. The medical community across the country is protesting and demanding justice.
If this incident has raised concerns about your or your loved ones’ safety, you are not alone. However, those most affected mentally are doctors, medical students and staff.
‘Cases like these add to the tension’
india today I spoke to several student doctors, and all agreed that if they wanted to be doctors, they had to accept that ‘stress is inevitable’. However, since the incident, some doctors say they have not been able to sleep, while others (especially women) are simply worried about their safety.
“Working long hours, skipping meals and sleepless nights are things we all go through. We considered it inevitable in this profession, a sacrifice you make for the greater good, and to some extent, that still applies. Now (since the incident), there is clarity and recognition in our minds that these are absolutely toxic working conditions, and there is some hope that these will improve before my time comes, so that we don’t have to go through the same things as our seniors,” says Pooja Singh*, a 20-year-old MBBS student.
According to Pooja, as a woman, reading about so many incidents every day has made her feel scared. She says, “There is no hope; it seems like the situation is not going to improve.”
‘Beating up doctors is very common’
Now, there are many reasons why doctors, especially women doctors, do not feel safe at their workplace. They tell us that a major reason for this is the increasing and common incidence of assault or physical abuse of medical staff.
For instance, Dr Prakhar Sharma, a 28-year-old doctor at PGI Chandigarh, says the staff thrashing incident has given him sleepless nights, which has become worse since the mob attack on RG Kar Hospital.
“We are having sleepless nights, constantly worrying whether the next day will be safe. While going through an emergency, we are worried about how we will cope if an attendant or a family member becomes aggressive? How will I respond? What if they beat me up? What will happen to our family and friends?” he says.
Dr Hrithik Jha*, a third-year MBBS student at AIIMS Patna, agrees and says, “I cannot describe how mentally frustrated I am. Physical and verbal abuse is very common here.” He says that during his visits to the hospital, he often sees relatives of patients attacking medical staff.
Over 90 percent of doctors face burnout: Study
Today, stress and fatigue is a serious issue faced by doctors.
- A 2021 study released by the Department of Psychiatry revealed that about 30.1% of the participating doctors were found to be depressed and 16.7% of them reported suicidal thoughts.
- The study also revealed that nearly two-thirds, i.e. 67 percent of doctors experienced moderate levels of stress, while another 13 percent experienced high levels of stress.
- More than 90% of doctors who participated in this report reported some level of burnout.
Dr. Jha agrees with the findings and explains india today The process of becoming an ‘experienced doctor’ is long and fraught, and poor working conditions add to the stress.
Doctors face an ethical dilemma: treat or resist?
Since the protests against the RG Kar rape murder began, many hospitals across India have shut OPD services and kept only emergency wards open.
However, in some cases doctors have even shut down emergency wards. The shutdown of services has put a lot of pressure on them as they are questioning whether they should fight for their basic rights or do their duty as doctors and treat patients.
Faizan Sarwar, an intern at AIIMS Patna, says, “We apologize to all those who are facing problems due to the closure of services, but we cannot do anything about it. It has reached such an extent. If we cannot save ourselves then how can we save you?”
Ahmed says this has affected his mental health as he has to turn down all patients, cancel his operation theatres, etc.
“It is a conflict of duty for us and we feel guilty when we send back people who have limited access to healthcare. We have no choice but to do this,” says Faizan.
Dr Arnab Dutta, a final year postgraduate resident at the Department of Radiation Oncology, IPGME&R and SSKM Hospital, Kolkata, agrees, “We doctors are extremely passionate about counselling patients and doing everything possible to help them recover, and that is why we are able to do 36-48 hours of continuous duty, with hardly 2-3 hours of sleep.”
“We don’t need holidays, and even on Doctors’ Day everybody gets a holiday except doctors; we have no problem with that because that’s what we have devoted our youth to – treating patients and making them well. Now, when we are off work, you can imagine how serious the situation is, that we, doctors, have to take such a drastic step,” he said.
(*Names have been changed as requested)
