Lokayukta begins suo motu proceedings against 3 hospitals in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Karnataka Lokayukta Justice BS Patil on Friday initiated suo motu proceedings against three government health facilities in Bengaluru - Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Shivajinagar, Jayanagar General Hospital, and KC General Hospital, Malleswaram.
The Lokayukta had formed teams to visit government and BBMP hospitals in Bengaluru with specific instructions to report irregularities and illegalities, if any, and lack of basic infrastructure. The inspections were conducted a few days ago.
According to the Lokayukta's order, at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, the inspection team noticed that doctors did not affix their signatures in the attendance list. The team observed waste bag bundles had not been lifted from the stipulated area for three days. Neither a help desk nor a reception counter was made available to the public. Old and unused equipment were not maintained, and condemned equipment were not disposed of according to procedure. Public toilets were ill-maintained, so were cash declaration registers. The wards also lacked hygiene, the team noticed.
At Jayanagar General Hospital, two pathologists were found conversing with phones in their hand, while 35 persons were waiting outside the lab. A 'lame excuse' of the server being down was cited. The inspection team learnt that there was no problem with the server and asked the medical superintendent to submit an action-taken report against the two. X-ray machines and 33 of 46 ventilators and mobile ventilators were unused, patients were kept waiting unnecessarily, cash declaration and movement registrars were not maintained and the well-equipped paediatric ICU was unused for want of staff since August 2021.
The team that visited KC General Hospital found toilets were not cleaned and hospital property encroached by private parties. There were complaints of duty doctors practising outside and incubators not working. While the cash declaration register was not maintained, the biometric attendance system was not functional since July 22, 2022. Apart from this, there was lack of hygiene and construction debris was found on the hospital premises. There were complaints of patient harassment by Group D employees.