Odisha: SCB Medical College reintroduces one attendant per patient rule

Cuttack: In order to reduce the unnecessary crowding of hospitals premises and to maintain the hygiene of the hospital, SCB Medical College and Hospital has re-introduced the one-attendant-per-patient rule. 

No unauthorized access will be granted to the hospital wards anymore. Per patient, one attendant's entry will be permitted; if additional entry passes are required, two passes may be given with the doctor's approval.

Unnecessarily, four to five attendants are found to have been attending some patients resulting in crowding at departments and often creating problems for doctors and health staff treating patients," SCB MCH Administrative Officer Dr Abinash Rout said.

He explained that it becomes a strenuous task for the hospital staff to maintain the hygiene of in-patient wards when too many attendants and their relatives crowd hospital wards. He further told The New Indian Express, " Overcrowding in the wards, even if it is one's kin, is not advisable as it could lead to infection among patients. Moreover, with no restriction, the brokers too manage to sneak inside and divert patients to private hospitals. The new rule can solve all these problems and streamline healthcare at the hospital".

The new rule, which was initially adopted in the department of medicine, has already been implemented in all other departments. As soon as a patient gets admitted, the nursing unit of the ward will issue an "attendant pass" along with filling a case document. Only after presenting the pass to security staff, the attendant permitted will be granted access to the in-patient ward. Rout stated that visitors must pay a visit within the allocated visiting hours to meet the patients.

He said that the pass, which functions almost like an ATM card and has the department name and ward number, must be returned when a patient is going to be discharged or transferred to another department.

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