The state health department has asked Kolkata Police to conduct an assessment of government hospitals and identify vulnerable areas where police assistance is required to prevent tout activities and curb unauthorised parking within hospital premises.
The state’s principal secretary of the health and family welfare department, Narayan Swaroop Nigam, has sent an official communication to Ajay Nand, the commissioner of Kolkata Police, on Saturday, stating that the health department is keen to strengthen security measures across all medical colleges and hospitals in the city following discussions held at SSKM Hospital on Friday.
“An exercise is being carried out to improve security measures in all the Medical Colleges and Hospitals in Calcutta… A team of your officers from the Commissionerate may first preview the entire premises and view the vulnerable areas where it is necessary to provide police security services so that touts and other unsocial elements do not disturb the patients or their relatives / attendants,” the letter mentioned.
The letter also mentioned freeing the parking areas of illegal parking and encroachment of parking spaces.
“The parking areas must be free of storage material & other encumbrances. Necessary actions may be taken to identify and remove unauthorised parking from the hospital premises. All necessary assistance from the hospital authority would be provided,” the letter added.
The exercise will be completed by May 20, the state health department has informed the police.
Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari held a meeting with representatives of the city’s medical colleges and hospitals on Friday at SSKM Hospital to discuss a range of issues, including refusal of patients and the proposed launch of a new app for tracking ambulances.
Refusal to admit patients or allocate beds is reportedly common in government hospitals across the state.
There have been multiple instances where patients have alleged being duped by touts who take money from them and their families in exchange for promises of hospital beds or faster diagnostic tests by bypassing long queues.
“We have our outposts where officers look out for such touts. However, we act once we get a complaint,” said an officer in south Calcutta.
There are 12 government medical colleges and hospitals under the jurisdiction of Kolkata Police.
According to officials, SSKM Hospital, NRS Medical College and Hospital, RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Medical College Kolkata, Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital, School of Tropical Medicine, ID and BG Hospital, Chittaranjan Seva Sadan and Sisu Sadan, Dr BC ROY Post Graduate Institute of Paediatric Sciences (PGIPS), Regional Institute of Ophthalmology (RIO), Lady Dufferin Victoria Hospital and MR Bangur Hospital are under Kolkata Police’s
jurisdiction.