New Delhi: Delhi government has issued a circular that directs all state-run hospitals to file an institutional FIR whenever there is an incident involving abuse or violence by the patients or their attendants.

The circular issued by Principal Secretary (Health), Sanjeev Khirwar, states that it will be binding on the medical superintendent or the director of the institution to ensure that an FIR is lodged in such cases by the hospital or institution rather than compelling the concerned hospital staff to get it lodged. It further stated that non-compliance will be viewed seriously.

Dr Arun Gupta, Head of Delhi Medical Council (DMC), said that there was a dire need for such a directive. He mentioned that it is the hospital’s duty to protect its employees and fight for them if the doctor or any other staff is attacked while on duty.

DMC registrar, Girish Tyagi, welcomed the government move. He stated that he had raised the issue with chief secretary Vijay Dev and it was reiterated with other senior members of the Delhi Medical Association.

A senior resident at Safdarjung Hospital said that in public hospitals, there’s no profit mongering. He added that they work for 36 hours at a stretch with limited resources, and despite all that, they face assault. The hospital recently witnessed a day-long strike against the assault on a junior doctor by a patient and his attendants.

Dr Vivek Couksey, former President of the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association of India, said that they have become the favorite bashing boys. He added that no one asks the administration why there are such few ICU beds or no one questions the government as to why so many years since independence, there is high disparity in availability of super-specialty health services across different regions.