Personal Safety and Privacy for Doctors

(A statement of American medical association – 2005)

Compiled by

DR. MRS. Meenal Kumar, M.D. senior gynecologist and menopause consultant, sector 20 civil dispensary, Chandigarh

DR.R.KUMAR M.S., OPHTHALMOLOGIST AND HEALTH COLUMNIST, 232, SECTOR 16, CHANDIGARH

1. Preamble

The AMA recognizes that violence against doctors is a growing concern.  This Position Statement is provided in an effort to reduce the vulnerability of medical practitioners to physical harm in all locations or settings in which they practice or may be exposed to personal danger arising from their professional work as doctors. It is recognized that there will be wide variation in the level of risk, the practicality of protective measures for prevention of threats to personal safety and the availability of emergency help when such threats do arise.

The statement is framed within a risk management approach, focusing on risk identification, risk assessment, risk control and evaluation of the effectiveness of risk management strategies.  It is intended to guide the violence management efforts of hospitals, practice managers and individual doctors – these parties should also keep up to date with current literature on the subject.

1.1 Scope

Standard workplaces for doctors include public and private hospitals, other health and aged care facilities and private practices. Many doctors work shifts and many provide after hours services and home visits to patients in the community. Some doctors attend accident scenes and other locations requiring travel by vehicle, boat or aircraft. There is obviously a wide range of workplaces.

Some of these workplaces, such as major hospitals, are able to provide formal protective measures in terms of both prevention of and responses to violence against doctors and other staff. Others, such as small hospitals and private practices, cannot provide the same sorts of formal protective measures, but they should apply the principles set out in this statement in regard to the personal safety and security of doctors. In these smaller workplaces the risk of violence may be lower, but the impact of it is likely to be higher when it occurs because of the lack of immediate response and assistance from security staff or police. This also applies where doctors are working on their own, particularly outside static workplaces, for example on home visits or emergency callouts.

In addition, there are times when the process of consultation and treatment of medical conditions can involve the transmission of deeply sensitive information regarding both the patient and other individuals.  Such information generally remains private between the parties, but in some circumstances statutory obligations will require the doctor to convey appropriate information to the relevant authority. This can include information regarding infectious diseases, fitness to drive motor vehicles, etc. The repercussions of these obligatory disclosures can be profound for the patient and, where there is emotional or psychological instability, for others.  Doctors involved in these work situations may find themselves faced with threats to their personal safety even while at home or otherwise going about their private business.  Thus occupational safety strategies for doctors may need to address risks outside the workplace.

1.2 Managing Risk

Every State and Territory has occupational health and safety (OH&S) legislation that places on employers a general duty of care to provide and maintain a safe and healthy workplace.  The legislation also assigns to each employee a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety, as well as for the health and safety of others who may be affected by that employee’s acts or omissions at the workplace.

Violence risk management needs to take into consideration the work environment as a whole.  To be successful it requires the commitment of management through sufficient investment of time, money and personnel.  This includes commitment to regular audits of the organization’s vulnerability

1 2 3 4 >>