A reply given in the State Assembly by Health Minister Veena George on the violence against doctors sparked confusion on Thursday.
The Minister, in a written reply to a question posed by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan on August 4, had stated that no increase was noticed in incidents pertaining to attacks on doctors by patients or their relatives.
Mr. Kuzhalnadan wanted to know whether there was an increase in such incidents, to which the Minister had replied in the negative.
After the reply reportedly drew flak, the Minister’s office said an error had occurred in providing the reply and it would be corrected. “'The matter is being looked into,”' a member of the Minister’s staff said.
To a related question, Ms, George said the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act, 2012, has provisions for dealing with offences of this nature and that they are adequate.
Steps are also being taken to generate awareness among the public through the print and visual media against resorting to violence against health-care staff, she added.
