Following Chief Minister Raghubar Das’ direction of strengthening the security system at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Director General of Police K N Choubey inspected the security arrangements at the premiere State-run hospital on Thursday.
Choubey, accompanied by Ranchi’s Senior Superintendent of Police Anish Gupta and Superintendent of Police Sujata Veenapani, visited all the blocks of the hospital and reviewed the security arrangements. RIMS Director Dr. Dinesh Kumar Singh also accompanied the team of top cops during the inspection and shared the security concerns of the doctors.
“We have decided to hold regular audit of security arrangements in all areas of the hospital. The Government wants RIMS to be an institution of national importance, and security will play a major role in making this idea a reality,” Choubey said.
The audit, he said, will be done in presence of the SSP and RIMS Director. At present, private agencies manage security at the hospital. Police, he added, will work along with the private security personnel for now. “Our cops will be provided sensitisation lessons on dealing with attendants at the hospital,” he said.
During a review meeting on Wednesday, Chief Minister Das had asked the police to strengthen security arrangements at RIMS and nab agents prowling the hospital premises. Interestingly, the same day, a woman police official got into a scuffle with a woman medico at the hospital’s labour ward.
“We will identify and nab the agents who are running their business in RIMS,” said Choubey on Thursday, adding that CCTV cameras will be installed in all wards in the hospital and the police will regularly monitor the footage.
Beefing up security at the hospital also assumes significance as Jharkhand has witnessed several incidents of assault on doctors in the recent past. Doctors across the state recently went on a two day protest demanding arrest of a patient’s attendants who had reportedly thrashed three doctors at Rinchi Hospital near Kathal More in Ranchi.
Doctors at RIMS too have faced the wrath of irate attendants in the past. In February last year, a doctor was heckled by attendants of a patient at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) prompting medicos at the hospital to go on an indefinite strike. A couple of months later, in June, a nurse was thrashed by attendants of a patient who died in the hospital. This incident too caused uproar by RIMS staff. Similar incidents were also reported in Patliputra Medical College Hospital (PMCH) in Dhanbad and Mahatma Gandhi Medical College Hospital (MGMCH) in Jamshedpur.
RIMS is the largest state-run hospital in Jharkhand, and caters to the medical needs of rural and urban residents from across the state. On an average, the hospital treats at least 1500 patients every day, say doctors. These patients, mostly from rural areas, are often accompanied by several attendants who spend nights on corridors and crowd different wards during the day.