Two out of Three Doctors Don't Feel Safe at Hospitals, Reveals a Curofy Survey

NEW DELHI, December 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Curofy, the doctors' networking app, conducted a survey among 2000 doctors to ascertain whether doctors felt safe during their practice or not and the results were startling. Two out of three doctors polled said they did not feel safe at the hospitals.

The survey was conducted among doctors across several states in India and routed through the Curofy app that has become popular among Indian doctors as a platform for exchange of cases, discussions and information updation.

The concerns on doctor safety have been mounting such that two-thirds of doctors responding to the survey said that they are not feeling safe while being at the hospitals. Around 80 per cent of respondents said that media was not highlighting the issue of doctor safety and rampant violence against them as adequately as it is highlighting other issues prevalent in the society.

On being questioned, 42 per cent of the doctors said that they have themselves been a victim of violence by the patient attendants. Contrary to the popular notion, monetary issues and doctor faults fall among the least likely reasons to lead to such violence against doctors. Only 1.4 per cent respondents said doctors were at likely fault for such assaults and monetary issues didn't at all feature among the top reasons to lead to such attendant outbursts. Emotional outbursts after negative patient outcome ranked among the highest reasons at 66 per cent that led to this violence. And violent/drunk attendants formed a sizable one-fourth of their population to indulge in violence against doctors.

The Curofy survey also tried to find possible solutions to stop violence against doctors and asked them which one intervention would make them feel safe at the hospital. Around 49 per cent doctors surveyed favoured having presence of either rapid action units or police booths within hospital premises; around 25 per cent said having armed security guards in hospitals should be made a must; around 22 per cent suggested installation of CCTV cameras around key points. Few doctors even suggested that doctors must have access to pepper sprays in case the need be.

It is interesting to note that this survey comes at a time when national data of similar sort has shown that nearly 75 per cent doctors in India have faced some form of violence at work in the last 5 years. 

Speaking on the findings, Mr Nipun Goyal, Co-founder, Curofy, said, "The results highlight a very sad state of Indian medical system. However, they certainly reflect the need for doctors to feel secure at work under any circumstances. Curofy, being a doctors networking platform is and will always aim to protect the rights of doctors with providing them safe atmosphere to work. Curofy also supported IMA Satyagraha to fulfill the demand for safety of doctors by urging over 2,00,000 doctors, including 15,000 doctors using the app, to join the movement. Our efforts have started to pay off as the demands have been positively appreciated by the health ministry and the Satyagrah has been postponed for now."

When asked, a doctor said, "If the docs are looking after the patients, then who's looking after the docs?" Another doctor suggested that the patient's attendants and relatives should be informed about the laws for violence against doctors before admission. Strict laws punishable under the criminal court on line of assault on police personnel should be made. Adequate protection should be provided at every healthcare setup.

About Curofy: 

Curofy, operated by 911 India Healthcare Private Limited, is a medical networking app that powers a spam-free and secure communication between doctors. In eight months since its launch, over 20,000 verified doctors from 150 cities have registered on the app. Doctors are connecting with each other on Curofy to discuss difficult cases, stay updated with latest medical advancements and browse premium jobs.

For more information, visit www.curofy.com

Media Contact:
Sanya Bajaj
[email protected]
+91-9711871891
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