UP: Yogi conducts surprise check at Lohia hospital after reports of poor non-Covid care

LUCKNOW: Unhappy over unsatisfactory non-Covid patient care services in government hospitals and government-aided medical education institutions, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday conducted a surprise inspection of Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS) and sent health minister Jai Pratap Singh to inspect Balrampur Hospital.
Sources said that the CM's swift action was based on a confidential report about poor non-covid care at government-run hospitals.
At RMLIMS, escorted by medical education minister Suresh Khanna, the CM found that many patients were waiting at triage area for Covid-19 screening outside emergency ward and inquired about the reason. When officers told him that patients have to wait to check overcrowding in the ward, he told them to increase staff and make extra arrangements so that those requiring urgent attention get it as quickly as possible.
The CM also expressed concern over low staff strength at the emergency ward. He also took notice of bedsheets missing from the beds in the triage area. The RMLIMS director explained to him that a patient spends at least 10-15 minutes at triage area bed and due to continuous flow of patients, it is easier to sanitise the cover of the mattress instead of replacing bedsheets every time.
Some patients complained about lack of RO water
The CM inspected emergency wards of general surgery and gynaecology departments where when he inquired about the facilities, some patients complained about lack of RO water. He directed officers to make required arrangements.
The director later told TOI that orders to increase staff at emergency ward and ensure clean water supply had been issued.
The CM has been emphasising on starting non-Covid patient care services for over two weeks now. Sources said that inspection was based on a confidential report, submitted before him on Monday, revealing unsatisfactory non-Covid patient care in various government hospitals.
“The report was based on evaluation of a week’s data on number of non-Covid patients attended across specialties besides admissions in ICUs and surgeries performed,” said an officer. After going through the report, he also directed ministers to conduct inspections on a regular basis.
Additional chief secretary Awanish Awasthi later told reporters that directions had been issued to health and medical education departments to monitor quality of non-Covid and emergency services in all government and private hospitals. Meanwhile, health minster inspected out-patient door facilities at Balranpur hospital.
Chief medical superintendent Dr RK Gupta said, “Since Balrampur hospital is among few non-Covid-19 hospital, he told us to increase patient care capacity following social distancing because more patients will arrive in days to come.”