Bhubaneswar, May 10: Health minister Pratap Jena made a surprise visit to Capital Hospital today, inspecting the facilities and services at the government-run health care centre.

The four-time legislator, who took charge on Sunday, also asked doctors to come to work on time.

Sporting casuals, Jena interacted with patients and asked them about their problems, availability of doctors and support staff, and the availability of free medicines.

"Doctors need to arrive on time and be available for patients. I request them to properly carry out their duties or else necessary action will be initiated," he said.

Finding the health minister in their midst, the patients also poured their hearts out to Jena. While some complained about the services, others alleged that they had been prescribed costly medicines that were not available at the hospital's medical store.

"I visited the hospital to take stock of facilities there. The government will ensure that patients undergoing trea-tment here are provided with free medicines," he said.

Set up in 1954 on 20 acres, the Capital Hospital caters to 70,000 indoor and nearly eight lakh outdoor patients every year. A majority of these patients are from Bhubaneswar and neighbouring Cuttack, Nayagarh, Puri and Khurda districts.

"It was a pleasant surprise. The minister interacted with us and we shared our problems with him. He gave us a patient hearing," said Satyabhanu Mohapatra, a patient.

On April 25, police had arrested three touts from the hospital for allegedly trying to persuade patients to visit private nursing homes and diagnostic centres.

The police had said all three were arrested on charges of cheating. The accused would get 10 to 20 per cent as commission for sending patients to these private nursing homes and diagnostic centres, the police had said.