‘Ensure Workplace safety first’: Delhi Healthcare women workers ask to look beyond violence in hospitals

New Delhi: Amidst the protest and calls for reform in healthcare following alleged rape and murder of doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital, women healthcare workers in Delhi are sounding the alarm about the dire safety conditions within hospitals, emphasizing that internal issues are compounding the difficulties they face on the job. While threats from patients and outsiders are significant, it is the systemic problems within hospitals—particularly the challenges faced by lower-tier staff like nurses—that exacerbate their daily struggles. The pervasive issues of internal harassment and lack of support highlight a broader crisis affecting female medical professionals across the sector, they reported.

“It’s part of your profession (to handle notorious patients). You cannot crib”, was told to a female nurse at a central delhi govt. hospital when she complained of harassment to her seniors. Around a month ago, she recalled, “a patient had asked me for inappropriate physical contact." She said that she wants to quit the job now as she cannot take anymore humiliation at the workplace. "There is no mechanism to address the inappropriate behaviour we encounter daily," she added.

More than a dozen female doctors highlighted that many hospitals have “predators” as seniors who behave “inappropriately”, pass “lewd remarks” and even “molest” but are neither spoken about nor addressed.

Ainya Khan, a 32-year-old resident doctor at AIIMS, added, “The Kolkata case has brought attention to the issue, but it also risks shifting the focus, making it seem as though female doctors face the same conditions as their male counterparts when that’s not the case. However, I don’t believe we are ready to address this fully yet. It affects all women workers, not just doctors, and our workplaces remain unsafe.”

While Doctors are leading protests, demanding justice and stringent laws to prevent assaults of doctors at the workplace in the capital for over a week now, the Indian Medical Association had called for a 24-hour nationwide withdrawal of all hospital services barring emergency care starting Saturday.

Doctors in delhi at central govt. hospitals, pointed out how just doctor duty rooms or call rooms (where they rest in between shifts or at night) is not enough, there is no locks in the room, hardly any security or CCTVs. Apart from safety, there is no privacy and constant need to be vigilant.

Many duty rooms and call rooms are poorly secured, lacking basic features like locks and surveillance. “There’s no privacy or safety in our rest areas,” one doctor from Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital explained, reflecting broader concerns about inadequate security measures.

The systemic issues extend beyond physical security. Female doctors face a persistent lack of effective grievance mechanisms and inadequate representation in professional associations. "We have seen our seniors not speaking up, so even we don’t as a norm.’ Even in cases where complaints are considered, it is followed by ‘incompetent doctor’ remarks, shared a 31-year old resident doctor from VMMC.

Another junior doctor from Safdarjung Hospital, added, “There isn't even enough female representation in doctors’ association, so our issues are systematically ignored.”

The medical fraternity’s failure to address these internal issues has led to calls for substantial reform. Dr. Srushti Sinha from AIIMS emphasised the need for systemic changes: “Increased security and CCTVs are important, but they are not enough. We need a complete overhaul of how internal harassment is addressed, including better sensitization and dedicated committees to handle these concerns.”