Top officials at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) “were not working as a team in letter and spirit”, according to a report submitted by an inspection team to the Health Secretary.

The inspection was ordered last month, following reports of the spread of COVID-19 among doctors/paramedics in the hospital, which is at the forefront of pandemic management efforts in the State. While issues relating to shortages in PPE kits and N95 masks, food, transport and proper accommodation facilities had been sorted out, the report said that the top officials were not functioning in tandem with each other.

The post of Medical Superintendent was vacant, and the acting Medical Superintendent was already overburdened with several other responsibilities, such as those of the Head of the Hepatology Department, the Director of Liver Transplantation and the Director of Medical Gastroenterology, among others, and “hence could not devote time and attention”, the report said.

There were also discrepancies in the deployment of sanitation workers and observance of quarantine conditions in the RGGGH. Some unattended “ground-level” problems had resulted in negative projection of the institution in the media and among the public, the report added.