{"id":42024,"date":"2024-08-21T03:38:27","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T22:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=42024"},"modified":"2025-10-07T16:24:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T10:54:37","slug":"supreme-court-constitutes-national-task-force-for-healthcare-workers-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/supreme-court-constitutes-national-task-force-for-healthcare-workers-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Constitutes National Task Force for Healthcare Workers Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in News?<\/li>\n<li>Current situation w.r.to safety protocols for healthcare workers across India<\/li>\n<li>SC forms National Task Force<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Supreme Court has constituted a national task force (NTF) of senior medical professionals to formulate comprehensive safety protocols for healthcare workers across India.<\/p>\n<p>This decision comes in the wake of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, which has sparked widespread protests among the medical fraternity demanding enhanced safety measures.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court bench took suo motu cognisance of the case, emphasising the urgent need for a national consensus on standard safety protocols for medical professionals.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Current situation w.r.to safety protocols for healthcare workers across India<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Legal provisions<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>As per constitutional provisions, <strong>health and law and order are State subjects<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Hence, it is the primary responsibility of the State government or Union Territory administration to take note of events and eventualities, and do what is necessary to prevent violence.<\/li>\n<li>The details of the number of fatalities of medical professionals due to attacks by families of patients are not maintained centrally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Need for a safe work environment<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Experts have pointed out that medical colleges often have ill-lit corridors, poorly secured wards, and long distances between departments.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>There is an urgent need to improve working and living conditions by ensuring proper lighting, security guards, cameras, and manned walk-throughs between departments, operation theatres, and emergency areas.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>These simple measures could make a real difference.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Examples from developed countries<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Violence against healthcare workers is a global issue, but several countries have implemented effective measures to protect their medical professionals.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>U.K.\u2019s NHS<\/strong> enforces a zero-tolerance policy on violence, supported by a dedicated security team and a comprehensive reporting system.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>In the <strong>U.S.,<\/strong> some States classify assaults on healthcare workers as felonies, acting as a strong deterrent.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Australian hospitals<\/strong> have introduced safety measures like security personnel, panic buttons, and mandatory de-escalation training.<\/li>\n<li>India must urgently introduce a Central protection Act and adopt similar measures to take stringent actions to ensure a safer environment for its healthcare workers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>SC forms National Task Force<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Supreme Court on Tuesday formed a 10-member National Task Force to make a blueprint for the safety and facility of healthcare workers at their workplace.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Members<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The newly established NTF comprises a distinguished panel of medical experts from various specialisations, including:\n<ul>\n<li>Surgeon Vice-Admiral Aarti Sarin<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Dr D Nageshwar Reddy\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Dr M Shreenivas<\/li>\n<li>Dr Pratima Murty<\/li>\n<li>Dr Goverdhan Dutt Puri<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Dr Saumitra Rawat<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Anita Saxena<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Pallavi Sapre, Dean<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Dr Padma Srivastava<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In addition to the core members, the NTF will also include ex officio members such as:\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>the Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India,\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>the Home Secretary,\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>the Secretary of the Union Health Ministry,\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>the Chairperson of the National Medical Commission, and\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>the President of the National Board of Examiners.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Responsibilities<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The NTF has been tasked with the critical responsibility of devising an action plan to ensure the safety and well-being of medical professionals.<\/li>\n<li>It will particularly focus on preventing gender-based violence and creating dignified working conditions for interns, resident doctors, and non-resident doctors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Areas to be addressed<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The action plan will address several key areas, including:\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Enhancing security in emergency rooms and other critical areas.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Implementing baggage screening to prevent the entry of arms.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Restricting the number of non-patient visitors.<\/li>\n<li>Managing crowd control effectively.<\/li>\n<li>Providing restrooms and gender-neutral spaces for medical staff.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Introducing biometric and facial recognition systems.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Improving lighting and installing CCTV in all hospital areas.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Arranging transport for medical professionals between 10 pm and 6 am.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Conducting workshops on handling grief and crisis situations.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Performing quarterly audits of institutional safety measures.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Establishing a police force commensurate with hospital footfall.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Applying the <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/the-posh-act-the-indian-law-on-sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace\/\" target=\"_blank\">Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act<\/a> to medical establishments, ensuring the constitution of an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC).<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Setting up an emergency helpline for medical professionals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q.1. What prompted the Supreme Court to form a National Task Force for healthcare workers&#8217; safety?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The formation was prompted by the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College, leading to widespread protests and highlighting the need for better safety protocols.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q.2. What areas will the National Task Force focus on to enhance healthcare worker safety?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Task Force will address key areas like improving hospital security, managing crowd control, implementing biometric systems, and ensuring safer working conditions for medical professionals.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/india-news\/sc-forms-task-force-to-protect-doctors-key-members-their-role-explained-124082000670_1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">SC forms task force to protect doctors: Key members &amp; their role explained<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/sc-forms-national-task-force-to-make-blueprint-for-safety-and-facility-for-doctors\/articleshowprint\/112654185.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Times of India<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/supreme-court-national-task-force-doctors-safety-9523280\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Indian Express<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Discover the Supreme Court&#8217;s formation of a National Task Force to improve safety protocols for healthcare workers in India, following the tragic incident at RG Kar Medical College.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":42025,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-42024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}