Police turn to WhatsApp to ensure safety of medical staff

Instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp have proved their usefulness, with even the police using them to send alerts to citizens. With a rise in attacks on doctors and medical staff by patients and their families, the State police chief has decided to turn to WhatsApp to give medical staff a sense of protection and ensure quick police response. Director General and Inspector General of Police R.K. Dutta has directed police personnel in Karnataka to create WhatsApp groups with doctors and hospital staff in their zones as members. In every jurisdiction, inspectors will have to gather the contact number and address of all medical professionals and healthcare centres, and then create WhatAapp groups including them. If a doctor or hospital staff member is attacked, an alert can be sent out on the group. The onus will be on the jurisdictional police to respond immediately and provide security cover. “Senior police officers should also sensitise their juniors to the provisions of the Karnataka Prohibition of Violence against Medicare Service Personnel and Damage to Property in Medicare Service Institutions Act, 2009,” Mr. Dutta said. Apart from the jurisdictional inspectors’ WhatsApp group, a second monitoring group will be created at the district level, with the Superintendent of Police in charge. The Deputy Commissioner of Police and senior doctors in the district will be members of this group. The police are also planning a DCPs’ WhatsApp group at the city level, which will have a similar structure. Mr. Dutta also warned police officers of disciplinary action if they fail to follow the order. “There appears to be a lack of understanding on the part of the local police in handling incidents of violence against medical professionals in the State. To have clarity on this, a standard operating procedure has been put in place,” he told The Hindu. Doctors welcome move In late March, an irate group assaulted a doctor at a private clinic in Malur of Kolar district, alleging that negligence had led to the death of a two-month-old baby. Instances of assault on doctors have been on the rise, causing a sense of fear among medical practitioners about their safety. Given this, doctors have welcome the State police’s initiative to improve responsiveness to attacks of medical staff. G.N. Prabhakar, former president of IMA Karnataka, said that since the Act was a special Act, many policemen were unaware of it. “In spite of so many cases of assault against doctors in the last eight years, very few arrests have been made under the Act,” he said. The Act states that violence against medical personnel or damage to property in a hospital or clinic is a cognizable and non-bailable offence, with a punishment of three years imprisonment. “Though there is a law, it is not implemented well,” said Prashant Raysad, CEO of Sparsh Hospitals. “This [move] was long overdue. Having a WhatsApp group will help in getting police support quickly. Some amount of commotion can happen when a patient dies in hospital, but the presence of police will deter people from attacking the staff or destroying property.” Devadass P.K., dean of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, welcomed the initiative but said the communication between patients’ relatives and doctors needs to be improved. “When junior doctors are overburdened with cases, senior doctors should speak to the relatives and make them understand the situation when a patient is critical,” he said.