Delhi AIIMS begins security audit to assess safety measures at campus

New Delhi: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi administration appealed to striking resident doctors on Wednesday to resume their duties, emphasizing the importance of patient care.

In response to the ongoing strike, the administration has announced plans for a comprehensive internal security audit and the formation of two committees to address safety concerns and other issues raised by the doctors.

The resident doctors at AIIMS have been on strike for over ten days, demanding central legislation to protect healthcare workers following the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

Such cameras shall be able to recognise all visitors with facial recognition technology and shall help security staff to identify persons entering and exiting frequently thereby helping them in access control of unauthorised personnel.

AIIMS Director Dr M Srinivas said the entire AIIMS family stands behind the cause of safety of all healthcare professionals at the premier hospital and across the country.

“However, as doctors, our supreme duty is also to ensure that patients visiting our portals do not go unattended,” he said in an appeal document, news agency PTI reported.

Srinivas said the administration has decided to undertake a collaborative internal security audit at AIIMS, New Delhi with regard to the safety and security of healthcare professionals, staff, patients and visitors and to facilitate the same, a 15-member committee has been constituted.

The committee will be headed by Dr Puneet Kaur, Head, Department of Biophysics. There will be representatives of FAIIMS, Resident Doctors Association, Students Union, Nurses Union and Society of Young Scientists among others in the panel.

The committee will visit AIIMS campuses, including outreach campuses like NCI Jhajjar, Haryana, NDDTC Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, CRHSP Ballabgarh, Haryana, etc during the day and at night and survey security measures, it said.

The committee will also deliberate on any additional safety and security measures required in the AIIMS campus and submit its recommendations at the earliest for speedy implementation.

“The government of India is committed to the cause of healthcare professionals’ safety unequivocally and the Supreme Court, while assuring affirmative action for ensuring safety of healthcare professionals, has requested all doctors to resume duties in the interest of patient care,” he said.

“Requesting the resident doctors of AIIMS New Delhi to resume their duties immediately so that patient care services are normalised,” he added.

To address immediate concerns of healthcare professionals of the institute another four-member committee, comprising Dean (Academic), Dean (Research), Medical Superintendent and Chief Security Officer has been constituted, adds PTI.

Besides, an office order said the Director AIIMS has taken multiple rounds of the hospital campus and has noted that many times same external persons are found entering and exiting various buildings under the garb of patient attendants, delivery agents, etc. thereby arousing suspicion of such persons being touts or impersonators visiting the campus frequently.

The security staff has also expressed difficulty in identifying such frequent visitors as they are on shift duty and it is not possible for them to raise suspicion as many times it leads to inconvenience to genuine visitors and patient attendants.

There have been news reports of other important hospitals wherein such unauthorized personnel have even caused gross harm to patients and there have been reports of patients being sometimes misguided and fleeced in AIIMS as well.

“It has been decided to install Al-enabled CCTV cameras at key entry and exit points of Mother and Child Block on a pilot basis. Such cameras shall be able to recognize all visitors with facial recognition technology and shall help security staff to identify which all persons are entering and exiting frequently thereby helping them in access control of unauthorised personnel,” the order said.

Resident doctors will stage a protest at Jantar Mantar here on Wednesday, the 10th day of their indefinite strike over the alleged rape and murder of a medic in a Kolkata hospital.

Elective services in several government hospitals across the city have remained suspended due to the protests.

AIIMS, GTB, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Associated Hospitals, Maulana Azad Medical College and its associated hospitals have released individual statements urging participation in the silent protest.

Members of the Resident Doctors’ Association from major hospitals in Delhi, along with the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Associations (FORDA) and the Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA), have been on an indefinite strike.

The body of the postgraduate trainee doctor was found in the seminar hall of state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9. A civic volunteer was arrested in connection with the crime the next day.

The Calcutta High Court later handed over the case to the CBI.