Thiruvananthapuram: As hospitals and doctors come under increasing attacks, an ordinance mooted by the State Government to ensure the safety of health workers is being dragged on by various departments without taking any action for some time.
The file is being pushed from one department to another and back, mainly the Health & Legal Departments and the Chief Minister’s Office, for the last over six months, as a consensus on its final shape is yet to be arrived at, sources said.
Twice the Health Department officials held talks with their counterparts in the Legal Department over the amendments to be carried out to the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act, 2012. The latter recommended changes in certain provisions. The same was incorporated and the file forwarded to the Chief Minister’s Office, according to the Health Department officials.
However, the Legal Department is yet to get the amended file. It’s from here that the final shape will be given to the amendment bill and submitted for the consideration of the cabinet. Only then the amendment can be published as an ordinance.
The act aimed at preventing attacks against hospitals and health workers was introduced in 2012. As per it, legal action can be initiated only in cases where the attacks happened inside the hospitals or premises. The maximum punishment to the offenders is only three months imprisonment and Rs five lakh fine. If the health workers are attacked at their houses or on roads in the name of treatment lapses, the provisions of the Act are not applicable and hence, legal measures could not be taken. Also, only doctors, nurses, para-medical staff, and Medical-Nursing students come under the scope of the Act.
Amendments demanded by doctors
• The scope of the Act should include the attacks against health workers outside hospitals.
• Safety should be ensured for all the employees of hospitals, starting from security personnel.
• In the case of an attack, the case should be lodged in an hour, the inquiry completed within a month, and the court trial within a year.
• Fast Track Special Courts should be set up to handle such cases.
• Provisions in the Act should be amended to enhance the punishment of the offenders. For attacks not serious in nature, the punishment should be a jail term of six months to five years and Rs two lakh fine, while the offenders of serious attacks should be awarded up to 10 years imprisonment and Rs five lakh fine.
