Shimla, December 29:
Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday ordered the constitution of a new committee to re-examine the recent incident at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), making it clear that while the state will ensure full security for doctors and healthcare staff, any misbehaviour with patients will not be tolerated.
The meeting of the Health Department was held in the backdrop of a delegation of the Resident Doctors Association (RDA) having met the Chief Minister earlier, seeking revocation of the termination of Dr Raghav Narula and pressing for other related demands following the IGMC incident.
Chairing the meeting, the Chief Minister said the government was committed to protecting doctors at the workplace but professionalism and ethical conduct towards patients remained non-negotiable.
He directed the department to introduce mandatory courses on human behaviour and man management for doctors to strengthen doctor-patient relationships and uphold the ethics of the medical profession.
Sukhu said the state government was also considering incorporating marks in the Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) of doctors based on their behaviour with patients. At the same time, he stressed that doctors must promptly report any incident of misbehaviour by patients or their attendants to senior authorities.
To ease pressure on the existing workforce, the Chief Minister said the government was rapidly filling vacant posts of doctors and paramedical staff. Hundreds of posts have already been filled in the Health Department and more appointments would be made in the coming days, he added.
He also said the government was mulling incentives for highly qualified doctors to attract more specialists to the public healthcare system and strengthen medical services across the state.
Health Minister Dr (Col) Dhani Ram Shandil, Health Secretary Sandeep Kadam, Director Medical Education Dr Rakesh Sharma, Director Health Services Dr Gopal Berry, Special Secretaries Dr Ashwani Sharma and Jitender Sanjta, along with other senior officers, were present at the meeting.
