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Security arrangements in hospitals, long way to go
Sapna Dogra - New Delhi
Hospitals, which should be providing solace and heal patients, have now become
places that patients and visitors dread to visit. No, we are not referring to
negligence of doctors, but to the recent incident of rape of a 30-year-old women
in a renowned hospital in Delhi. Last year, a nurse was brutally molested inside
a private hospital, which is still afresh in people’s memory.
Such incidents have raised questions about women’s safety and security
in hospitals. Are hospitals not responsible for providing security to patients
and their relatives? Are hospital taking sufficient measures to tackle these
problems? According to Anne Marie Moncure, MD, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital
Delhi, “ In our hospital, patients and visitors is of paramount importance.
There’s a massive security arrangement and security guards are deployed
all over the hospital premises so as to avoid any untoward incident.”
To ensure safety, security guards are recruited with utmost care. Casual wanderers
are not allowed in hospital and patients and their attendants have to wear an
identification card. All staff, including doctors have to wear ID cards, informs
Ms Moncure. Also, there are close circuit TVs at strategic places. “Women
employees are equipped with special skills to fend off unwanted overtures,”
she adds.
Similarly, Rockland Hospital claims to have tight security arrangements both
for patients, visitors along with the staff. Though the hospital outsources
its security services to Group-4 Securities, Dr Bidhan Das, director, operations
Rockland Hospital, says “The hospital owns the responsibility of security
and safety on hospital premises. Our security starts from the entry point of
the hospital.” The corridors of the hospital are fully lit and manned by
security men and CCTVs on all floors.
PGI Chandigarh boasts of a foolproof security system with dual arrangement
of having outsourced security arrangement and in-house security arrangements.
According to a senior security official, the institute has deployed security
men all over the place who are properly trained and are sensitized to patients’
and visitors’ needs. “There’s not been a single incident of misconduct
in the institute, which speaks volumes about the impeccable arrangements here,”
maintains another PGI personnel. In all women wards, labor rooms, the institute
has deployed female security guards and there’s a redressal cell to address
the grievances of security personnel and also that of the general public.
It is important to have trained security personnel in government hospitals also
as in private hospitals, says a senior doctor at government hospital.
sapna.dogra@expressindia.com
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