"Heads Need To Be Pro-Active": Task Force Member On Doctors' Safety On Duty

The 10-member national task force to recommend steps to ensure doctors' safety met for the first time yesterday

The National Task Force to make recommendations to ensure doctors' safety on duty is discussing threadbare every issue related to the medicos' workplace experience, a member of the panel has told NDTV. He also said every hospital must have an internal complaints committee to tackle problems faced by women healthcare staff. 

Dr Saumitra Rawat, chairperson of Institute of Surgical Gastroenterology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi, is a member of the task force that was set up by the Supreme Court in the aftermath of a 31-year-old doctor's rape and murder at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

The 10-member task force met for the first time yesterday. Dr Rawat yesterday's meeting saw a detailed and elaborate discussion regarding the issues faced by doctors. The task force, he said, was focusing on two main aspects -- how to prevent violence against medical professionals and how to prepare a protocol for dignified and safe working conditions for doctors. "We had a point-by-point discussion. We have also given suggestions and recommendations of various associations to the Health Ministry," he said.