Wellness centre soon at AIIMS to mange stress among doctors

New Delhi: In a bid to deplete the work pressure and stress level among the doctors which sometimes compel the student and resident doctors in the country's premier medical institution to attempt suicide, AIIMS governing body has approved a proposal to develop a wellness centre which will be operational soon. This wellness centre will check the stress level among the students, doctors and also provide the treatment for them. Meanwhile, a round the clock helpline services will also be functional to address the doctors' stress related calls.

On Monday, a PhD student attempted the suicide because of the stress and harassment, and few days earlier too, five resident doctors were admitted to psychiatry ward, seeking treatment for mental health. However, doctors raise question over the mental health safety for doctors working in government hospitals. In such cases, it is necessary to question whether exploitation is not one of the reasons behind such incidents.

However, the AIIMS administration has decided to start the wellness centre for to aid the students and the resident doctors of the institute. This centre will be started soon, where the counseling of students and resident doctors, mental health check-up and treatment will be facilitated.

A senior officer at AIIMS said that at present, professor of psychiatry department of AIIMS has been given special responsibility. Moreover, the institute's governing body recently approved the plan to start the wellness centre. There will be two psychiatrists and three counselors to be appointed. This centre will start soon, so both the psychiatrists will be appointed on the contract. Apart from this, 24-hour helpline will also be started.

Dr Harjit Bhatti, President of AIIMS Resident Doctors' Association and former President Dr Vijay Gurjar has raised this demand. Dr Harjit said that resident doctors are very stressed due to the burden of work in AIIMS. Many times doctors also have to be recruited for treatment.

In the case of a PhD student, it is learned that senior doctors were exploiting him. In recent past, five resident doctors were admitted to the ward of the Department of Psychiatry.