Delhi: How a city hospital has created a safe workplace for women

Two years ago, a Delhi nurse reported being sexually molested by an operation theatre technician during a surgery. The man groped her breasts as he helped her wear a LEAD apron, radiation safety clothing worn with assistance. An internal inquiry at the hospital exposed a pattern of similar abuse endured by several female staffers at the technician’s hands.

The nurse, however, did not file a written complaint with the Internal Complaint Committee, a body tasked with addressing complaints of sexual harassment in the workplace under the Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment Act. The hospital nonetheless acted on her verbal report and fired the technician, but without a written complaint, the termination letter did not specify the reason for his dismissal.

Professor Raminder Kalra, principal of the Holy Family Hospital Delhi, where the incident took place, told Newslaundry that the ICC was set up at the hospital in 2013 when the PoSH Act was enacted, “but many women are still scared to report these incidents in writing. So we act on verbal complaints too. It helps women feel confident in the system.”

This incident reveals the challenges women still face in reporting workplace sexual harassment, even with protection mechanisms in place. As per data, women health workers are highly vulnerable to sexual harassment and abuse. And the 31-year-old junior doctor’s rape and murder at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College Hospital has once again put the spotlight on women’s safety at workplaces, especially hospitals. In fact, a preliminary investigation by the National Commission for Women revealed that the RG Kar Hospital lapsed in safety and security measurs and infrastructure.

So how can a hospital foster a safe and supportive workplace for women workers? What measures and policies ensure their safety and create an environment where women feel empowered to report incidents of harassment or abuse? Holy Family Hospital has some suggestions in crafting a safe workplace.

CCTV cameras, hotspots, separate resting rooms for men, women 

Professor Kalra said that the Kolkata case could have been avoided by just providing facilities such as CCTVs and gendered resting rooms. “All these are basic facilities.”

The Holy Family Hospital has department-wise separate resting rooms for men and women staff, including the junior doctors. They are located between the general and private wards on each floor, with the corridors under CCTV surveillance, for the convenience and safety of doctors. There are also gender-specific changing rooms equipped with lockers for doctors, nurses, and the housekeeping staff.

It has also installed 165 CCTVs to cover most of its 21-acre premises. The administrative officials said that the cameras are tested every Monday, and if they are found to be not functioning, they are fixed within 24 hours. The administration also prepares a detailed report on the CCTVs – on their cleaning, connection, view, and voltage – every three months. Newslaundry viewed its reports for 2024.

The security team has also identified the most vulnerable areas for attacks on doctors – the ICU and emergency units – and maintains increased vigilance at these “hotspots”.

Raj Kishore Yadav, head of the security and housekeeping team added that his team is also responsible for ensuring that the seminar halls or OPD areas are locked as soon as they are not in use.

ICC awareness, women leaders, self-defense training 

On being asked about the ICC, hospital housekeeping staff Sudha Gupta says that she “knows the procedure to file a complaint and would not hesitate to report an incident. It makes us feel safe that the guidelines that are preached are also followed.”

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The hospital conducts awareness drives about the ICC, including regular staff meetings chaired by department supervisors and the distribution of pocket booklets on sexual harassment, related laws, and the process to file a complaint with the committee. The details of the committee members are also pasted on the notice boards across the hospital and college.

Staff at the hospital told Newslaundry that the administration also promotes women in leadership positions.

Anjali Sharma, who was hired as a supervisor in the security and housekeeping department about eight months ago, said, “The hospital was looking for a woman supervisor because the women employees in the team felt awkward to ask for menstrual leaves or to share their health issues with a male boss.” The team has about 20 women out of the total strength of 60 employees.

65 percent women staff,  so ‘more heard’ 

The hospital has predominantly women staff. At least 65 percent of its about 1,200 workers are women. Out of the 30 departments operational in the hospital, only one does not have any women employees: the maintenance department, involved in carpentry, masonry, and electricity-related work. At present, the hospital is run by the New Delhi Holy Family Society and managed by the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese.

Several staffers told Newslaundry that the higher number of women workers in the hospital makes them “more heard”.

‘ICC only on papers in most hospitals, no implementation’

“ICC only exists on papers,” said Dr Meet Ghonia, national secretary of the Federation of Resident Doctors Association, on both government and private hospitals. “Most senior doctors would be aware of them but not women from nursing and housekeeping staff because no proper orientation programmes are held for them.”

Dr Gagan Jain, an Uttar Pradesh-based ENT surgeon, also agreed that in his two decades of experience working at “topmost government and private hospitals, I have never heard of an ICC”. He said that young doctors are “vulnerable to inappropriate touch on duty, but hospitals do not take any action. At the most, I have heard senior doctors suggesting to lock our doors from inside while resting.”

The story was first published by Newslaundry on August 27, 2024