One-pass-per-patient rule only on paper?

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the onepassperpatient policy in the city civic hospitals According to the policy only one relative will be allowed to stay with a patient in the general ward and two people with a patient admitted in the ICU The rule that was supposed to come into effect from May 6 has not been implemented yet Moreover there seems to be a communication gap between authorities and staff at ground level regarding the reimplementation of the rule that was already in existence in 2011 Confusion The dean of KEM hospital declares that the policy is in effect However there are no signs of its implementation at ground level PicSatyajit Desaiu00a0 KEM Hospital On one hand Dean of KEM hospital Dr Sandya Kamath claims to have the passes in place whereas those working at the ground level have no clue about the same ldquoThe passes arrived at the hospital on Friday The system has already been implemented in our hospital Relatives of patients admitted since then are being allowed inside only with the passrdquo On the other hand relatives of new patients had no clue about the system and they were being allowed to stay back with the patients as earlier Nair Hospital According to Additional Municipal Commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar the passes have arrived at all hospitals and she has gotten the confirmation from the printing press However Dr Minoo Sanjana dean Nair hospital said ldquoWe are waiting for new passes to arrive which would be here in two days so that the rule can be enforcedrdquo To add to the confusion many nurses incharge were not aware of this system ldquoThough the rule of onepassperpatient exists since 2011 we havenrsquot been told to follow it yetrdquo said a nursing staff Sion Hospital Security Officer of Sion Hospital Parag Kuchekar explained ldquoThe rule has been implemented from today Monday We have made sure that there are three security guards per section two female and one male Even if anybody manages to slip through this security system our head constables will make sure that they cannot pass through further checks without having security passes with themrdquo The other side ldquoAny new system needs a little time to be implemented I am sure that it will be implemented within this weekrdquo said Mhaiskar ldquoRegarding security at civic hospitals I have spoken to the concerned additional commissioner and he has assured me that recruitment of 1000 security men is in process and hospitals will be given priorityrdquo Security woes Nair hospital Out of 113 sanctioned security personnel the hospital uses the services of 77 active security guards Only 21 security guards per shift are available for 16 buildings in the hospital premises When asked about the situation Dr Minoo Sanjana said ldquoThe main challenge is patrolling It is very essential for any hospital to have a strong security team We have already started registrations and will have additional 36 security guards soonrdquo These guards once appointed have to undergo training provided by the government that will take at least 6 months for them to be ready for the job Sion Hospital 131 security guards are sanctioned for eight buildings of Sion hospital Out of these 54 vacancies are yet to be filled The security guards in the hospital are falling short The hospital is also running short of ward boys The recruitment for guards is in process The decision to appoint more guards is pending since 2009 Voices This system is creating a fear for those who are new to the city and have come only for treatment mdash Bhaskar Chinchole Nashik resident admitted brother at Sion hospital At least two relatives are required one beside the patient and the other outside the ward to take care of paperwork getting medicines and arranging for many other emergency things How can this system work Moreover in the night it becomes all the more difficult since there is less hospital staff here and almost all the work is carried out by relatives of the patient mdash Shivaji Pol has admitted his mother at Sion hospital We are here since nineteen days for my twoyearold childrsquos treatment He does not stay without his mom and my wife has to be with him all the time I am outside the ward It is not possible for me to leave my wife alone and this system is very difficult for relatives to follow mdash Shivkumar Nagjhare Akola resident admitted his son at KEM hospital I am not aware of any such system but it will be a big problem for us One person alone cannot handle a patient Minimum of two people are required The authorities concerned should understand this and redesign their system in a way that at least two relatives per patient are allowed mdash Ravindra Deore Dhule resident admitted his mother at KEM Hospital The rule is definitely made the for benefit of public but they should consider some cases All cases cannot be categorised under same rule Situations are different with every patient and their respective families mdash Aruna Solanki a Powai resident Nephew admitted to Nair hospital ICU Recruitment pending Sion hospital has 8 buildings for which 131 security guards are sanctioned Out of these 54 vacancies are yet to be filled Therefore the security guards in the hospital are falling short as per the necessary requirements Similarly the hospital is short of ward boys The recruitment for guards is in process Assurance has been given that this problem will be solved shortly From 2009 the decision to appoint guards has been pending Since the matter has been cleared the hospital will hopefully have adequate security guards soonu00a0