Following complaints about the presence of middlemen pretending to be hospital staff in Government Rajaji Hospital, the authorities have taken a slew of measures, including strengthening of surveillance on the premises.
The issue arose after the death of an 18-year-old physically challenged boy whose treatment was delayed by a middleman in khakis by demanding Rs. 300 as bribe to pull the stretcher.
After the family petitioned the hospital and the incident received media attention, two nursing assistants were suspended for neglecting their duty by the hospital authorities and at least three middlemen were caught.
The hospital has now decided to install 66 CCTV cameras on the premises in addition to the 28 cameras already installed by the hospital and 16 installed by the police in both the new and the old campuses.
A senior hospital official said that they had also asked for round-the-clock deployment of two police personnel each in casualty, trauma care and maternity wards.
The official said that the hospital had also done a mass transfer of lower grade staff (LGS) between different departments.
“A session on the dos and don’ts for the LGS has been conducted. We are also planning to organise sessions for other staff members, including doctors,” the official also added.
Apart from these, hospital authorities said that vigilance committees had been formed to conduct surprise checks to ensure that there were no middlemen and patients were not asked to pay bribe by any of the staff members.
