Government has Already Set Up Helpline Number to Redress Grievance of Health Care Workers: SG Tushar Mehta Tells Supreme Court

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta Informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday that Government has already created/set up Helpline Numbers/Control Room and they are monitoring the position on day-to-day basis, to redress grievances of health care staff on PPEs, Salary Cut, Eviction by House Owner Etc.

Writ Petitions filed by two different organizations of nurses namely Indian Professional Nurses Association and United Nurses Association were heard & disposed of together in view of the submissions made by learned Solicitor General by the Supreme Court bench of Justice N.V. Ramana, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice B. R. Gavai. The petitioners, who were seeking nearly identical reliefs in their respective petitions, prayed for a direction from the Supreme Court to the Union of India to formulate a comprehensive policy for the welfare and safety of health care workers, including nurses, relating to provision of protection kits for health workers, relaxation of EMI payments availed by them, protection from eviction, etc.

The Bench made a note of the relief already granted by the Court through its order on 8^th March 2020, Jerryl Banait vs Union of India, a PIL filed by a medical professional for provision of Personal Protective Equipments to the to medical healthcare workers and provision of security to Doctors and other paramedical professionals. The Court had given the following directions:

• The Government should ensure availability of appropriate Personal Protective Equipments, including sterile gloves, starch apparels, medical masks, goggles, face shield, respirators, shoe covers, head covers, etc to all Health Workers including Doctors, Nurses, Ward Boys, other medical and paramedical professionals actively attending to, and treating COVID-19 patients suffering from COVID-19 in India, in Metro cities, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
• The Government of India, the State Governments and the Police authorities should provide the necessary Police security to the Doctors and medical staff in Hospitals and places where patients who have been diagnosed COVID-19 or patients suspected of COVID-19 or those quarantined are housed.
• Necessary Police security should also be extended to Doctors and other medical staff who visit places to conduct screening of people to find out symptoms of disease.
• The Government should also explore all alternatives including enabling and augmenting domestic production of 12 protective clothing and gear to medical professional, like the exploring of alternative modes of production of such clothing and permitting movement of raw materials, and also restrict export of such materials.

The Court in the present petitions, noted that the healthcare workers including, doctors, nurses, etc. are part of the frontline in this fight against coronavirus outbreak, and are in a situation facing the maximum risk. The Government needs to ensure that the most favourable conditions are provided to these professionals.

The Court asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta regarding the measures that are being taken regarding the present issues, who affirmed that the matter is being taken seriously by the Government and a helpline has been set up specifically for the complaints by healthcare workers to ensure that the issues are solved as soon as possible. The Court directed him to make the information regarding the present issue available in the public.

“…We grant liberty to the petitioners to make complaint regarding their grievance on the Helpline Numbers/Control Rooms created/set up by the Government of India. We request the learned Solicitor General to provide a copy of the same to the learned counsel for the petitioners by E-mail,” Said Supreme Court while disposing of the writ petitions.

The Petitioner, United Nurses Association (UNA) is one of the largest nurses associations with 3.8 lakhs Nurses as its members representing the interest of the registered nurses through its constituents and its organizational affiliates

The Petitioner, in the petition had pointed out that the Health care workers are at the front line of the COVID-19 outbreak response and as such are exposed to hazards that put them at risk of infection, including hazards like pathogen exposure, long working hours, psychological distress, fatigue, occupational burnout, stigma, and physical and psychological violence etc.

The petition had also pointed out failure on part of the Indian government to conceive a national protocol, for addressing the serious concerns relating to imminent and extreme risks posed to the health and safety of medical personnel throughout the territory of India, even after the World Health Organization has issued interim guidance for standardizing the rights, roles and responsibilities of health care workers internationally. Therefore a ‘National COVID19 Management Protocol’ should be formulated.

The petitioner drew attention of the Court towards the following problems being faced by the healthcare force of the Country:

1. Non-availability of sufficient personal protective equipment(PPE) in numerous hospitals throughout India
2. Non-availability of sufficient number of COVID-19 testing kits
3. Sub-standard Personal Protection Equipments (PPE)
4. Lack of training on infection prevention and control (IPC)
5. Lack of basic facilities in isolation wards; Isolation precautions are not being followed by WHO norms
6. Hourly disinfection is not being done in the wards
7. Mental harassment in the nature of forced over-time followed by negligible transport facilities and deduction of salary on account of leaves;

The petitioner had argued that the Corona virus is transmitted between people through close contact and droplets, making health care workers more prone to coming in contact with the infection, therefore being at a high risk of contracting the infection if not protected.

While stating that protection of these workers should be of paramount importance for the government, the petitioner had prayed for the following reliefs :

1. Formulation of a National COVID19 Management Protocol.
2. Ensure that Covid-19 protection kits are made available to every single health care professional working in the corona isolation wards or in close proximity of suspected patients suspected.
3. Ensure provision of adequate and standard nutritious meals , transportation, and accommodation in close proximity to the healthcare workers.
4. ensure that all health care workers are trained on infection prevention and control (IPC), proper use and disposal of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).
5. ensure that the infrastructure of hospitals and health care centres are temporarily expanded so to provide separate and hygienic washrooms for staff.
6. Expansion of the scope of personal accident cover provided under the “ Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package Health Workers Fighting COVID-19‟ to include all health care workers across sectors, including those recruited on ad-hoc basis.
7. Ensure that Landlords / Owners throughout the country be prohibited from adhering to the recent trend of evicting the health workers owing to their concern that their health will be in jeopardy.
8. Provision of free testing facility and treatment for the health care workers in case of infection of Covid-19 while they are on duty, and no deduction of salary if they get infected.

-India Legal Bureau