In a shocking incident, about 25 bottles of liquor and 100 packets of pan masala (a tobacco product) and other toxic substances have been seized from the attenders of in-patients at the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) by hospital security staff in the past one month.
According to hospital officials, about six security staff had been posted mainly at the gynecology, causality and trauma care wards to inspect attenders before visiting patients. A hospital official said that some women attenders had been forced to sneak in liquor to give the patients (husbands or sons) who were addicted to alcohol.
In a recent incident, an old lady who hid a bottle of liquor in her saree and caught by the security staff had said that her son undergoing treatment for a fracture on his leg at the hospital forced her to bring the liquor.
Recently, the security staff caught an inebriated middle-aged man who was forcing his way into the gynecologist ward after visiting hours and found that he was trying to sneak in a bottle of liquor.
“We have started to check even soft drink bottles as attenders mix liquor and soft drinks. In a few instances, even ganja was sneaked in,” the security staff added.
“This step was taken to maintain cleanliness and protect patients. An inebriated person could harm other patients, and since most of them hail from villages, they eat pan masala and spit in the corridors of the hospital,” said S P Suba, Assistant Resident Medical Officer (ARMO), GRH.
“There were incidents when drunken visitors had broken bottles in the bathroom damaging the hospital property. However, since we have appointed security staff, such incidents have been reduced,” the Assistant Resident Medical Officer added.