As the recent incident of rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College has put the safety of women doctors under spotlight, the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences Delhi (AIIMS) Delhi on Wednesday constituted two committees to look into the safety issues of the medical practitioners.
The decision was taken following the resident doctors’ strike demanding a central legislation for the protection of healthcare workers in the campus.
With the healthcare system going for a toss amid the doctors’ protest, the hospital administration appealed to the striking doctors to resume their duties immediately. The AIIMS administration said that a collaborative internal security audit will be conducted to assess safety and security measures within the campus.
Besides the security audit, the AIIMS administration has also decided to install Al-enabled CCTV cameras at key entry and exit points of the Mother and Child Block on a pilot basis. These cameras enabled with facial recognition technology will help security staff identify frequent visitors, thereby, helping them access control of unauthorised personnel entering the hospital campus.
Urging the doctors to resume duties immediately, AIIMS director, Dr V Srinivas said, “The AIIMS community fully supports the safety of all healthcare professionals at the leading hospital and throughout the nation. However, as doctors, our highest responsibility is to ensure that patients who come to us receive the care they need. He mentioned that the administration has decided to conduct a joint internal security audit at AIIMS, New Delhi, focusing on the safety of healthcare professionals, staff, patients, and visitors. To oversee this process, a 15-member committee has been formed.”
The committee will be headed by Dr Puneet Kaur, head, Department of Biophysics, AIIMS Delhi. Representatives from FAIIMS, resident doctors association, students union, nurses union and Society of Young Scientists will be part of the panel.
The AIIMS director’s appeal document stated that the committee will conduct visits to AIIMS campuses, including outreach locations such as NCI Jhajjar in Haryana, NDDTC Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, CRHSP Ballabgarh in Haryana, among others, both during the day and at night to assess the security measures in place. The committee will also deliberate on additional safety and security measures required in the AIIMS campus and submit its recommendations at the earliest for speedy implementation.
Srinivas further stated that the Government of India is fully committed to ensuring the safety of healthcare professionals, and the Supreme Court, while promising to take positive steps to safeguard them, has urged all doctors to return to their duties in the interest of patient care. He further requested the resident doctors of AIIMS New Delhi to immediately resume their duties to restore normal patient care services.
To address immediate concerns of healthcare professionals of the institute, another four-member committee, comprising Dean (Academic), Dean (Research), Medical Superintendent and Chief Security Officer has been constituted.
An office order stated that the AIIMS Director has conducted multiple rounds of the hospital campus and observed that certain external individuals frequently enter and exit various buildings, often posing as patient attendants or delivery agents, raising suspicions that they might be touts or impersonators. The security staff has also reported challenges in identifying these frequent visitors due to their shift duties, as it is difficult to raise suspicion without inconveniencing genuine visitors and patient attendants. Notably, there have been reports from other major hospitals where unauthorized individuals have caused significant harm to patients, and similar incidents of patients being misled and exploited have also been reported at AIIMS. As a response, the decision has been made to install AI-enabled CCTV cameras at key entry and exit points of the Mother and Child Block on a pilot basis. These cameras will use facial recognition technology to identify visitors and help security staff monitor and control access to unauthorised personnel.
Resident doctors will hold a protest at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday, marking the 10th day of their indefinite strike in response to the alleged rape and murder of a doctor at a Kolkata hospital. Healthcare services in several government hospitals across the city have been disrupted due to the protests. Statements urging participation in the silent protest have been issued by AIIMS, GTB, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Associated Hospitals, as well as Maulana Azad Medical College and its affiliated hospitals. Members of the Resident Doctors’ Association from major Delhi hospitals, along with the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Associations (FORDA) and the Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA), have been on an indefinite strike.
The body of the postgraduate trainee doctor was discovered in the seminar hall of the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9. A civic volunteer was arrested in connection with the crime the following day, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is currently handling the investigation.
(With agency inputs)
