New Delhi: Violence against doctors and healthcare providers in India has been on the rise in recent years. Doctors, nurses and paramedics, are today put their lives at risk in the course of duty, because they are susceptible to verbal and physical assault from patients and their relatives. In India, the violent acts are being propagated by the relatives of patients, visitors, intruders and somehow media which fail to know the root cause. “No physician, however conscientious or careful, can tell what day or hour he may not be the object of some undeserved attach, malicious accusation, blackmail or suit for damages…”
It is observed that patient’s lack of understanding of technical matters, unreasonable expectations, high cost of healthcare are the basic issues that required urgent attention. The blaming strategies amongst public, media and medical professionals will not yield any results. The problem will not solved by legal system. Our country has a very rich heritage of legislation; 156 law are applicable to hospital in India but that is not the remedy to bridge the trust gap between medical professional and the public.
Study reveals that over 75% of doctors in India face some form of violence at work.