NELLORE: Though the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system was introduced in the maternity and children’s block of the Government General Hospital in the city in 2018 to prevent abduction of babies, it has been left unused. No steps have been taken to get the defunct RFID reader repaired. The GGH maternity block witnessed abduction of babies on a few occasions earlier. An unidentified woman abducted a baby from the maternity block on June 5, 2015. Another instance of infant abduction was reported in the GGH in 2020. However, police cracked the cases and reunited the infants with her parents.
Under the system, all the newborns in the hospital are supposed to have RFID tags tied to their ankles, while their mothers and attendants need to affix them to their wrists. If a baby is carried away from the spot, the tag will set off a siren in the RFID reader installed at the hospital entrance, alerting the staff.
The maternity block gets about 120-150 outpatients a day on an average. About 40-45 inpatients undergo treatment in the block.
“We have not provided RFID tags. We take care of the newborn in the ward by keeping a constant vigil. There is also no proper monitoring at the entrance of the block to prevent abduction of newborns. No one asks if an unidentified person carries an infant through the main entrance,” said Hari, an attendant of a new mother. Except the main CCTV camera, others installed at the entrance and other vantage points of the hospital premises are not working to keep a vigil on intruders. It is learnt that the defunct CCTV cameras have not been repaired for the past one year.
“There is no proper surveillance to ensure the safety and security of newborns in the maternity block of GGH. Despite the demand from patients and voluntary organisations to repair the defunct RFID reader, there has been no response from the GGH authorities for the past two years,” said Sateesh, honorary president of United Medical Employees Union. When contacted, a senior GGH doctor said, “We have asked the higher authorities to get the RFID reader repaired. The staff are keeping a constant vigil to ensure the safety and security of newborns in the maternity block.”