Hospicio administration contemplating to review security measures

MARGAO, APRIL 23
Baffled by the theft of a lady patient in the hospital, the Hospicio administration is contemplating to review the security measures by increasing the security manpower requirements and also to restrict the presence of interns and students in the hospital during office hours.
The hospital authorities and members of the Hospicio Visiting Committee on Friday had a meeting wherein they reviewed the security measures and took stock of the situation against the backdrop of theft by a “doctor”.
Hospicio Medical Superintendent, Dr Ruando De Sa told newsmen after the meeting that the hospital in the process of receiving the report from the committee constituted to probe into the incident. “The incident happened during visiting hours. The security was lax because of public demand during visitor hours. There’s less number of security personnel during visiting hours”, he said.
Dr De Sa underlined the need to have a thorough review of the security after his meeting with the security agency and request made to beef up the security requirements. “Presently, there are seven security men in each ward. Some of the wards are not covered. May be there’s a need to beef up manpower”, he said.
Replying to a question, the hospital Medical superintendent said strict action in the form of screening and checking would not go down well with the visitors and patients. “May be, the hospital may review the timings of visitors and reduce the visiting hours”, he said.
On the question of interns and medical students making their presence felt in Hospicio, Dr De Sa said the time has come to review their timings or may be to stop them from coming. “We have a lot of interns from different institutions like Ayurvedic and Homeopathy. They wear their coats, carry stethoscopes and cannot be identified by the regular doctors and nurses”, he said.
Referring to the theft incident, Dr De Sa said the nurse on duty had very much doubted the miscreant and finally committed the theft by shouting at her after ordering her to get the patient’s case papers.
Saying that the hospital authorities will find ways and means to avoid such incidents, the Medical superintendent, however, said that there are standing instructions to the patients to hand over their valuables to their relatives or carry them at their own risk.