Government-run hospitals in Pune lack proper arrangements for round-the-clock surveillance.
A gang war on Thursday night in the casualty department of the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital (YCMH), Pimpri, has exposed the ‘porous’ security arrangements in hospitals managed by government and civic bodies.
With the city police citing staff crunch as a reason for not providing security cover, the onus is on the hospital administration to beef up security on their premises. On Thursday evening, a gang war between rival groups in Mohannagar area spilled over to the YCMH when an injured Aditya Pawar, belonging to one of the gangs, was admitted to the hospital. Rival gang members armed with choppers and sharp weapons barged into the hospital to kill him. The hospital authorities were caught unawares by the incident.
The situation was brought under control only after the police arrived at the spot.
Dr Rajshekhar Iyer, medical health officer of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), admitted that security of the YCMH and other hospitals run by the civic body is looked after by the corporation staff only.
“We have two full-time constables at the hospital, but there are no armed guards on the premises. We have applied for deputation of armed guards. Hopefully, they will be deputed in a month’s time,” he said.
With 1,400 beds and a daily influx of 2,000 patients, the Sassoon Hospital in Pune, is the biggest civic hospital in the district.
However, when it comes to security there are only unarmed security guards employed by the hospital. A senior doctor from Sassoon admitted to serious security lapses on the hospital premises.
“There are more than five entrances and exits in the hospital out which only two are guarded. Due to the huge influx of patients in the hospital, it becomes very difficult to keep an eye on the
movement of the people on the premises,” he said.
With the exception of the neonatal ward, which has been fitted with CCTV cameras, the rest of the Sassoon campus is without any
surveillance.
The question of security for Sassoon assumes significance given to the fact that hard-core criminals from Yerawada Jail are brought here for medical check-ups. Incidents of criminals slipping away from the hospital premises had brought to light the loopholes in the security system.
“We had repeatedly written to the police, asking them to provide the hospital with at least two armed guards for round-the-clock surveillance, but it was not of any use,” he said.
When it comes to security, the Kamla Nehru Hospital is comparatively well-equipped with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) installing CCTV cameras on the premises. Besides, in order to improve the surveillance, there is only one entry point in the hospital. Dr RR Pardeshi, chief medical officer, PMC, pointed out how the civic body has provided the hospital with two round-the-clock security guards.
“We are capable of handling small incidents, but we do not have the resources to handle bigger cases. I will be looking into the matter soon,” he said. Additional commissioner of police (crime), AD Shinde, admitted that the police could not provide armed police guards for round-the-clock surveillance in civic hospitals in the city.
“If need be, we do supply armed guards. But I will look into the matter and try to address the system in near future,” he said.
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