NELLORE: Questions are being raised over security lapses at the Government General Hospital (GGH) in the city following the abduction of a newborn baby. Normally, only mother and relatives of the newborn babies are allowed to take them after showing valid proofs and the tags provided by the hospital staff. The hospital authorities have also gone into alert mode after abduction of a newborn baby on Wednesday and ordered an internal inquiry into the incident.
A woman, who identified herself as Lakshmi, visited the GGH and claimed to be mother of the baby. She took the baby and disappeared from the SNUC ward along with another woman who accompanied her. However, the police identified the woman from the hospital CCTV footage and caught her within two hours. Later, they restored the baby to his parents. An informer helped the police identify the abductors who belong to Kovur.
Though the hospital has Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tagging facility, the staff failed to put the tag on the newborn baby and the mother while he was shifted to SNUC ward. Normally, when the baby is moved away from the mother beyond the specified place, the units installed there with ‘antenna and transceiver’ would read the micro chip in the RFID tag and raise an alarm. When the mother is admitted for delivery, she is given one of the two similarly programmed tags. The second one is kept either with the doctor conducting the delivery or the nurse in-charge. After the baby is born, the second tag is put on the baby.
Apart from checking baby-stealing, the RFID tag helps prevent swapping, another common occurrence. But, the Maternity and Children’s Block staff have not programmed RFID tags to both mother and newborn baby in the hospital in this case.
Harika who claimed herself to be Lakshmi, approached doctors and informed them that they were shifting to a private hospital for a better treatment. Further, the staff of the hospital allowed her to take the newborn baby following any due procedures for discharge.
Meanwhile, while discharging the newborn baby, the hospital staff have to provide the date of birth certificate and a cheque for Rs 1,000. Besides, the mother and the child have to be sent home only by the hospital ambulance.