[nursebedlam]

Hospitals need to be safer for women: NCW

Monday, May 31, 2004

Hospitals need to be safer for women: NCW
New Delhi, May 30: Noting that the alleged rape of a girl patient by an intern in Safdarjung hospital here recently has brought to the fore the need to make hospitals safe for women, the National Commission for Women has written to both the Centre and the Delhi government to issue directions to hospitals to provide adequate protection to them.The NCW conducted an inquiry into the alleged rape of the minor girl in the Safdarjung hospital hostel, finding that “there was a lack of systematic mechanism to ensure safety and security of women within the hospital premises.”

The commission found that its recommendations regarding ensuring safety for women within the hospital premises issued to the government after the Maulana Azad Medical College case and the Shanti Mukund Hospital Case were not adhered to.

“This is a serious lapse,” said NCW chairperson, Ms Poornima Advani.

“When we demanded to know from the hospital authorities why the precautions recommended by us had not been taken, they told us that such an incident had never occurred there in the past. We would like to point out that one cannot wait for a rape to happen before safety measures are adopted,” Ms Advani said.

Among the recommendations made by the commission following the MAMC and Shanti Mukund Hospital cases were providing proper lighting, installing helplines and coordinating with PCR vans.