Bid to bring down doc-patient tension

Kolkata: A young doctor was brutally assaulted by a mob at his home in North Dum Dum a month ago after the death of a patient. When the family of a local youth with myocardial infraction was rushed to the doctor he referred the patient to a hospital. The patient died on the way to hospital. The angry locals then attacked the doctor and his family.
In April second week, a doctor attached with Howrah District Hospital suffered a shoulder dislocation while a colleague sustained head injuries during a mob attack after a patient’s death.
Mob assault on doctors had taken a back seat during the pandemic. But there has been a sudden spurt in incidents of violence and allegations of medical negligence. On Saturday, Protect the Warriors (PTW), an organisation by doctors, conducted a workshop on how to deal with such situations with an aim to bring down the tension between doctors and patients.
“The growing mistrust between doctors and patients is a major concern and one of the causes for allegations against doctors. While from the patient side most allegations are due to emotional outburst, we, on our part, also need to develop soft skills and communicate more emphatically with patients and their families,” said plastic surgeon Adhish Basu, one of the speakers at the workshop.
“How to deal with patient party to avert such situations, when to call cops and colleagues in case of violence and how to face a legal case were also part of the workshop,” said ENT surgeon Abhik Ghosh of PTW. Sessions by College of Medicine and JNM Hospital forensic medicine head Souvanik Adhya, on writing clean and informative prescriptions and what steps are to be taken in case of impending violence by senior physician and medico legal expert Somnath Bhattacharyya, were also there. Other senior panellists included professor emeritus forensic medicine A K Gupta, forensic medicine expert S Batabyal, former principal, RG Kar Medical College and Sayan Datta, Subhankar Manna, and Chiranjib K Dey of Calcutta High Court.
“PTW will take such workshops to districts,” said public health specialist Anirban Dalui.