Odisha Cautions Against Patient Handling By Non-Health Personnel In Govt Facilities

The Odisha government on Thursday asked the authorities at all major State-run healthcare facilities to ensure that non-health personnel are not allowed to attend patients admitted to hospitals at any cost.

In a letter to Director, Capital Hospital (Bhubaneswar), RGH (Rourkela), CDMs/PHOs, and superintendents of all government MCHs, the State Health and Family Welfare Department has instructed the officials to ensure that patients coming to the facilities are treated or attended to only by designated healthcare personnel.

Care should be taken not to engage any non-healthcare personnel in assisting the treating doctors or paramedics in the process of treatment, the Health Department has cautioned in its letter.

Taking serious note of media reports pertaining to allegations that a security guard was engaged to measure the BP of a patient due to the non-availability of doctors at a hospital in Ganjam district, the government has said that due care should be taken so that such incidents are not repeated in any government health facility.

Claiming that the news was not completely true, the Health Department has clarified that the matter has been inquired into and it is revealed that the doctor was on duty when the incident is reported to have occurred.

The Health Department stated that the matter has been inquired into and it is revealed that the doctor was on duty and was measuring the blood pressure of the patient while the security guard was only helping in binding the cuff of the BP instrument which was not part of his assignment, and therefore, sends a wrong and misleading message regarding healthcare services being provided in the State, the Health Department explained in its letter.