Karnataka: Hospitals run by medical education​ department asked to install CCTVs

BENGALURU: Government hospitals in the state which come under state department of medical education, have been asked to be equipped with CCTVs, bio-metric attendance system for their staff and a patient registration counter, within the next 75 days.

Considering complaints from patients and their guardians, who allege that the staff at these hospitals — including doctors — do not come on time, the state medical education minister D K Shivakumar directed the department officials to take necessary action to put things in place.

During D K Shivakumar’s visit, it was revealed that several members of the staff had not reported to duty even after an hour of their reporting time. Speaking after the visit, the minister said, "It is necessary for doctors and other staffers to reach on time. It can be seen that a lot of patients are struggling to get admitted due to the absence of staff or due to their delay in reporting to work every day."

"To keep an eye on the attendance of doctors and other staff of hospitals, it has been decided to install bio-metric attendance system in all hospitals run by the medical education department and the same will be monitored carefully," the minister mentioned.

However, according to hospital authorities, the bio-metric and CCTV system is already in place, but there is a lack of monitoring system. "A few hospitals have also complained about non-functioning CCTV cameras and bio-metric systems. But, all medical college hospitals are equipped with these facilities. They will be monitored properly and we will place new equipments, wherever needed," said a senior official of the department.