The IMA said patients were the most significant person in hospitals and operation theatres, and stressed the existing globally accepted protocol.
Published Jun 29, 2023 | 8:29 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 29, 2023 | 8:31 PM
A request by female Muslim MBBS students in Kerala, that they be allowed to wear long-sleeve scrub jackets and surgical hoods in operation theatres so that they could maintain their “modesty”, has elicited sharp responses from several medical bodies, including the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
Dismissing the suggestion, the IMA said a patient was the most significant person in hospitals and operation theatres.
Therefore, it said, the existing globally-accepted protocols should be followed there without fail so as to ensure the patients’ safety.
Expressing a similar view, the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) said granting permission to such a request was not scientifically or ethically appropriate.
In a letter to their principal on 26 June, a group of female Muslim MBBS students of the Government Medical College in Thiruvananthapuram suggested that the hospital acquire long-sleeve scrub jackets and surgical hoods so that they could strike a balance between “donning compliant religious attire and maintaining modesty while also complying with hospital and operation room regulations”.
The letter to the principal, Dr Linnette J Morris, was signed by seven students from various batches, ranging from 2018 to 2022.
In the letter, the students complained that they were not allowed to cover their heads inside the operation theatre.
“According to our religious belief, wearing hijab is mandatory for Muslim women under all circumstances,” they said.
“Hijab-wearing Muslims have a difficult time finding a balance between donning compliant religious attire and maintaining modesty while complying with hospital and operation room regulations,” they added.
The students said that there were alternatives that could be used, based on options available to hospital personnel in other parts of the world.
“Long-sleeve scrub jackets and surgical hoods are available, which allow us to maintain sterile precautions as well as our hijab,” they said.
They wanted the principal to look into the matter and grant them permission to wear the this attire in operation theatres at the earliest.
The letter by the students was somehow leaked from the principal’s office and found its way to social media sites.
It was picked up and tweeted by several right-wing Twitter handles, and went viral.
Commenting on the letter, one of the handles said: “Typical example of how some people won’t get sleep unless they infuse and insert religion in operation theatre also (sic).”
Speaking to South First, one of the medical students who signed the letter said that wearing a hijab was a matter of personal choice, and that they had written to express their concern to the college principal.
“The whole matter should have remained in the college, and could have been amicably dealt with by the principal,” she said.
“However, someone from the principal’s office took a photograph of the representation and sent it to right-wing groups. And the right-wing people posted it on social media and turned it into a controversy,” she added.
Confirming receipt of the letter, Principal Linette Morris said she explained to the students the need to follow the prescribed precautionary practices inside operation theatres, and the necessity to adhere to the current, globally-accepted dress code there.
She said an operation theatre was a highly sterile zone, and the health and safety of patients were of utmost priority there.
The principal said it was not practically possible to wear long-sleeve jackets, as they demanded, inside the theatres as several rounds of scrub-up (washing up to the elbow in running water) are involved while doing a surgical procedure or assisting in it.
It was a globally-accepted procedure and practice inside the operation theatre, she explained.
“We cannot simply cross out the existing procedures and practices inside operation theatres. I explained to them all the problems involved in it,” the principal said.
To address the concerns of the students, Morris said she assured them she would form a committee of surgeons to look into the matter.
“There is an infection control team comprising the staff nurse, microbiologist, and all. I told the students that we would discuss the pros and cons of the matter and let them know about the final outcome,” she said.
An anaesthetist by profession, the college principal said the safety of patients could not be compromised.
Dr Sulphi Noohu, IMA’s Kerala state president, said the association wanted to continue the existing practices and protocols.
“Worldwide, it is considered that a patient is the most significant person in hospitals and operation theatres. Certain internationally-accepted protocols are being followed everywhere to ensure the safety of the patients and to protect them from getting infected,” he said.
The IMA wanted all these practices and protocols to be followed without fail, Noohu added.
Dr Suresh TN, president of KGMOA, said there was an infection-control system in operation theatres, and the scientific view was to maintain existing protocols as such.
As part of the disinfection procedures, hands should be washed repeatedly and gloves should be worn inside the theatres.
“In such a circumstance, a long sleeve dress, as demanded by the students, cannot be permitted considering the safety of patients. This is not appropriate scientifically or ethically,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
