Kolkata, 17 May (H.S.): West Bengal Health Secretary Narayan Swarup Nigam conducted surprise late-night inspections at several government medical colleges and hospitals in Kolkata on Saturday to review cleanliness, infrastructure and monitoring systems, official sources said.
According to sources, the health secretary had held a high-level meeting on Thursday with principals and vice-principals of five medical colleges and four teaching hospitals in the city, during which strict instructions were issued regarding hospital management and maintenance.
Following the meeting, Nigam personally visited several major hospitals on Saturday night.
He first inspected National Medical College and Hospital before visiting Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital, RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and SSKM Hospital.
At RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the health secretary also held a meeting with vice-principal Saptarshi Chattopadhyay and other senior doctors and officials to discuss cleanliness, security arrangements and patient facilities.
Sources said the inspections came days after state Urban Development and Women and Child Development Minister Agnimitra Paul expressed strong dissatisfaction over alleged mismanagement and unhygienic conditions during her visits to hospitals earlier this week.
According to officials at Swasthya Bhavan, hospital administrations have been instructed to maintain hygiene not only in toilets but also in wards and corridors.
Sources added that directions had been issued to ensure cleaning of hospital premises at least three times a day and to strengthen monitoring mechanisms to verify whether sanitation work was being carried out regularly.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey
