The security of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH) is now handled by two units of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), but a visit to other two government-run state top hospitals reveals the gaps in protection, as the government’s new initiative for safety of women at workplace after the horrific rape and murder of a doctor on duty on 9 August is yet to start working.
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However, they pointed out that there are no cameras installed in campus, poor security arrangements especially for nights and unsafe conditions during nights. Medical College, Kolkata (MCK) located in the heart of city acts as a hub for all West Bengal government medical facilities. It is one among the most crowded government hospitals from high load with patients to managing critical cases but still its security system falls short just as it did before RGKMCH incidence that happened around wee hours on 15 August. The hospital has six gates including gate number two being main gate where police presence has been increased by Kolkata Police; besides this all other remain same unguarded as before.
However, a first-year PGT doctor at ENT department said she hardly noticed any change in terms of numbers of guards present in buildings or wards. “During nights when we are alone while on duty then there isn’t much security because there’s only one guard at the front entrance who sleeps most times,” replied this doctor during interview with The Hindu. In case anything goes wrong with patient relatives who occasionally become very annoyed about something we usually try to avoid them within our own limits.”
ENT happens to be an old heritage building which means being resident doctor includes night shifts like many other women doctors here who said: “There is no lift or ramp inside my department.” But when emergencies arise late at night or when looking after patients whose condition might deteriorate leading us down into darkness, away from buildings, the other way round. In case the patient’s relatives become violent in such a situation, they think: “This is the end.”
Dealing with these situations, resident doctors have started coming up with creative ways of handling them. For example if a patient comes along with a large crowd of people especially at night, they divert it so that their medical duties are done peacefully without fearing violence or any form of disturbance.
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Besides, hostels are similarly insecure as there are no CCTV cameras in corridors and little checking of people coming in. “We were accustomed to having security issues at our hostel but never this acute! We now live here with constant fear and trauma after the R.G. Kar episode,” explained a PGT doctor who is a second year’s resident of an In-Campus Hostel while speaking to The Hindu.
On their part, RGKMCH doctors who supported CAPF presence on their campus remarked that; “It is also important for us to know how this deployment would take place and what it implies for the doctors working at this hospital, not forgetting other hospitals’ security precautions because we all work in government run institutions.”
A female MBBS student from Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital (NRSMCH) revealed a similar picture. “There are no CCTV cameras inside the hostels. There are only one or two guards who are asleep at night. There is no effective change that we can see on the ground,” she said.
For instance, a female medical doctor who had graduated from NRSMCH earlier this year stated how it made it impossible for her and other female doctors/interns doing duty to rest anywhere comfortable in hospital owing to lack of resting areas even though they had tried to make use of private spaces within the facility instead.“There was barely any room for interns like me in certain departments we used to share with male PGTs when on night duty. It was so irritating,” she remarked.
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Additionally, while working such shifts pediatric surgery department’s staff members were sometimes left alone in children emergency rooms until dawn as they may fall asleep mid-way through , which could be entered by outsiders at any time. “Those were some of the things that I considered part and parcel of being a doctor,” she continued in her story to The Hindu. “We never thought something so heinous could happen to one of us on duty.”
The authorities at NRSMCH have agreed in the presence of Dr. Saroj Patra, a current intern, we needed more cameras as well as guards but didn’t disclose the number of days for their implementation.
A female junior doctor working with cardiology at Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research (aka SSKM Hospital), South Kolkata told The Hindu that it has always had an extra presence of security men due to politicians’ preferences compared to other hospitals.
“But that’s not enough for the doctors’ safety! Just a few days ago, some relative[s] vandalized our hospital’s trauma care center after death of a patient where they also beat up one junior medico,” she said expressing her disappointment over incidents like assault going on despite countrywide protests for protection against assaults upon health professionals.
Remembering numerous instances of mob violence that her relatives had taken part in the cardiology unit, she noted especially that in many cases when patients were brought dead. “We actually do not have enough security personnel who work at our departments and emergency wards to handle the mobs,” she said. “And even our police can’t be trusted because we saw them run away and take cover during a mob attack on RGKMCH premises on August 15.”
For two years now, a female junior doctor who lives in SSKM PGT hostel has pointed out how frequently outsiders pass through security and enter there. Numerous times trespassers have been apprehended at different hours of any day inside hostel properties with students and guards around.
The hostels are each manned by only one guard, some of whom are old and infirmed. “When we go into hostels at odd hours during night duty, they tend to fall asleep at night. We just don’t feel safe when there are so many strangers hanging around our hostel buildings,” said the girl from the hostel.
Speaking to The Hindu, she says boarders want male wardens for boy’s messes, lady warden for girls’ hostels as well as two security persons residing in the hostel all round the clock? “The administration welcomed these suggestions but we do not how long we have to wait before these demands are implemented. Since the mob attack on RGKMCH happened, I haven’t felt safe even for a minute,” she mentioned.
Government response
West Bengal state government announced its flagship program towards securing women doctors studying in medical colleges. Security checks will be done using breath analyzers at medical colleges and hospitals under this scheme called ‘Rattirer Shaathi (friends of the night)’. patrolling Night Police shall be carried out besides separate designated restrooms with toilets for women.
Despite completing its second week, doctors’ strike hasn’t seen any implementation of these rules on the ground.
