Police in government hospitals across the city were sent a set of instructions by the police commissioner on Tuesday to curb the menace of touts, maintain law and order on the premises and ensure there is no unauthorised parking.

The move came after chief minister Suvendu Adhikari visited SSKM Hospital last week and held a meeting with representatives of all government hospitals in the city.

Soon after the meeting, all the police stations that have a government hospital in their jurisdiction were asked to carry out an assessment and submit a report to the state health department on the areas where security needed to be stepped up.

Following their assessment, city police commissioner Ajay Nand passed an order on Tuesday instructing all police outposts in the city to ensure security of patients, their relatives and staff, to control access, ensure crowd management, emergency response, proper night security and monitoring of CCTV cameras.

Incidents of patients being robbed or cheated in hospitals are common.

“We have been asked to focus on the physical safety of people inside the hospitals as well as ensure access control to ensure no unwanted person can enter the hospital without a specific business,” said an officer posted in the police’s south division.

In 2024, a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee who was on night duty was raped and murdered in the seminar hall of the emergency building of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The brutality of a woman raped and killed at her workplace in a government hospital in the presence of hundreds of people had rocked the nation.

A civic volunteer attached to Kolkata Police, who was well acquainted with the hospital and had been a frequent visitor, had committed the crime without anyone having stopped him to ask the purpose of his visit so early in the morning.

A few days later, a mob ransacked the hospital compound without adequate police to stop them.

Last year, a teenage patient who had gone to SSKM with her family for treatment was trapped by a former hospital employee in the guise of a doctor trying to help. She was taken to a washroom where she was allegedly raped.

Incidents of patients and their families falling prey to cheats and touts who take money against false promises or getting a bed or a quick access to doctors and diagnostic tests are also common in the state-run hospitals.

The instructions sent on Tuesday include timely coordination with the local police station and with agencies like the fire department or the disaster management group.

Apart from monitoring CCTV cameras, the police personnel have been asked to guard the emergency and OPD areas that are vulnerable to law-and-order problems after a patient’s death.

The police have also been asked to maintain duty rosters and ensure that proper night rounds are carried out, especially to secure women patients and staff in the hospital.