​3 ward boys and nurse at Osmania General Hospital caught on CCTV taking bribe

HYDERABAD: Five staffers, including three ward boys, a technician and a nurse, at the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) were caught on camera taking bribe from patients. The hospital has recently upgraded CCTV coverage from 40 cameras to 70 cameras and also increased the surveillance, officials said.

While these five staffers were caught during a casual scan of the CCTV footage by authorities, on Sunday, a patient was also caught thrashing a ward boy.



However, hospital authorities said since paying bribe is common at hospitals, the five staffers were rounded off for counselling sessions. “The staffers need counselling for bringing change in this age-old practice. Also, we cannot keep suspending every staffer for this kind of behaviour, hence the five are being given counselling,” said Dr B. Nagender, OGH superintendent.

A personalised counselling session is being organised by the hospital superintendent as well as the resident medical officers at the hospital. The five have also been asked to submit a written undertaking that they will not indulge in such behaviour in future.

Complaints of bribe being asked by hospital staff has been a major issue for a while now. Bribes ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 200 are demanded by security guards and ward boys for allowing family members into the wards as well as for providing minor information like when will a technician be available for carrying out tests. “It is so difficult to get past a queue at a laboratory even for a simple blood test. While awaiting my turn, a ward boy asked for ₹30 to get me through the queue quickly,” said Kishtaiah G, a patient from Peddapalli, who visited the hospital on Monday.

Meanwhile, health authorities are making efforts to tackle this problem by shuffling security guards at all state-run hospitals across the state, but the practice continues unabated. “The increased CCTV coverage has made the staffers wary of demanding bribe, but it will take some time to change the behaviour,” added OGH superintendent.