Patient attended to by security guard: Odisha Govt issues instruction to all state-run hospitals

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Government today wrote a letter to authorities of all state-run hospitals directing them to ensure that patients visiting the facilities are treated only by designated healthcare personnel.

In the letter Additional Chief Secretary PK Mohapatra asked Directors of Capital Hospital and Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH), all CDMOs and PHOs and Superintendents all Government Medical College and Hospitals to make sure that care is taken not to engage any non-healthcare personnel in assisting the treating doctors or paramedics in the process of treatment.

The direction came following media reports of a security guard allegedly being engaged to measure blood pressure of a patient due to non-availability of doctors at a Government hospital in Hinjili of Ganjam district.

Mohapatra clarified that the matter has been enquired into and it is revealed that the on-duty doctor measured the BP of the patient and the security guard was only helping in binding the cuff of the BP instrument. Though that was not part of his assignment, it sends a wrong and misleading message regarding healthcare services being provided in the state.

The Government has taken serious note of the incident and due care should be taken to ensure that such incident is not repeated in any state run healthcare facility, the senior official said in the letter.