Lack of security worries patients at KMCH

CHENNAI: The level of security in government hospitals and medical colleges has been exposed after an eighteen-month-old child, sleeping inside Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital (KMCH) with her parents, went missing on Monday. Rated between “bad” and “abysmally low” by administrators and patients alike, it is becoming increasingly evident that state-run medical institutions are ill-equipped when it comes to security.“There are so many wards here and people waiting everywhere. After this (the missing child incident), I am very worried every time I bring my daughter here,” said Kanagavalli, who had come to the Government Children’s Hospital to nurse her child’s chest ailment. This was a sentiment that was echoed almost uniformly by most parents. Sridharan, a father of two, said, “When we’re poor and come for free care, can we ask for more?”Essentially, two problems are pointed out when security risks are mentioned. The security force employed across all state-run hospitals comprises ex-servicemen and the number of these ‘guards’ was very low. “There is an outpatient flow of over 10,000 per day, besides staff and in-patients,” explained an official at the Rajiv Gandhi GGH. “How can adequate security be given when there are only 42 guards across three shifts?”The official also outlined how there were multiple entry and exit points and having them covered, is in itself an arduous task. “Any question of security inside the ward is only up to the nurses and doctors,” he added.Another problem that GH staff complained of is the overload of patients’ kin who come in unchecked. “We have patients coming in from Sivaganga, Salem and other districts. Along with them, 10 or 15 kin or aides insist on staying on the premises, which makes crowd control a nightmare,” said a highly placed source at KMCH, where girl went missing. Dr G Ravindranath, of the Doctors Association for Social Equality, urged that police booths be sanctioned in all taluk and block level hospitals and “police be made to be on duty, compulsorily”.