Safety and security of doctors to become mandatory criteria for recognition of medical colleges | Mint

New Delhi: Medical colleges in India will now be recognised only if they comply with new safety and security rules issued by the medical education regulator, an official aware of the matter said, requesting anonymity.

This development comes against the backdrop of a nationwide protest against the gruesome rape and murder of a young female doctor in Kolkata, which refuses to stop.

To be eligible for recognition by the National Medical Commission (NMC), medical colleges must necessarily incorporate safety features such as CCTV cameras, trained security guards and female guards on the premises, emergency control rooms and emergency alarm bells, among other safety measures.

These measures were previously advisory in nature. “At present, only advisories are being issued to the medical colleges, but most of the colleges are not taking it seriously and are not following through,” the official quoted above said, adding that the new rules will be announced in a published notification soon.

“NMC access officers will be able to assess these parameters during inspection once they become part of the regulations,” the official added.

Importantly, the new rules will apply to both government and private hospitals, and to both future and existing colleges, the official said.

Queries sent to the Ministry of Health, under whose responsibility the NMC operates, remained unanswered at the time of going to press.

The background

The move follows the Ministry of Health’s September 4 order to all central government hospitals and medical colleges to enhance safety measures to ensure a safe environment for healthcare professionals.

In view of the Kolkata case, the Supreme Court on August 20 ordered the secretaries and directorates general of police in all states and UTs to implement certain basic requirements in medical colleges to address concerns of doctors about their safety at workplace.

The Supreme Court had constituted the National Task Force (NTF) which was to submit an interim action report within three weeks of the order and a final report within three months.

Last week, Govind Mohan, the Union Minister of Home Affairs, and Apurva Chandra, the Union Minister of Health, chaired a meeting with the Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police (DGPs) of the states. The meeting focused on the immediate measures to be taken to enhance the safety and security of doctors and healthcare professionals in medical institutions. They asked the state governments and the Utah State Government to submit a report on the measures taken by September 10.

A survey by IMA last month found that around 35% of doctors, mostly women, feel unsafe during night shifts in hospitals. Around 3,885 medical professionals participated in the survey. The findings of the survey have been accepted for publication in the Kerala Medical Journal of IMA in the October 2024 issue.

“It is the need of the hour to regulate medical colleges as NMC is trying to do,” said Dr Sharad Aggarwal, immediate past president of IMA. “We have urged the NMC to prepare an important compliance list of adequate safety and security measures for medical students and doctors at the time of giving permission to set up a new medical college and its attached hospital.”

Aggarwal added that the measures suggested by IMA include regulation of duty hours, separate duty rooms with attached toilets, screening of entire corridors, validating the campus, deployment of adequate security personnel especially in the emergency and intensive care units, more female guards and CCTV with cloud recording, “as in most cases we found that the cameras were not working and if they were working, there was no provision to record the past footage”.