Assam health minister warns attendants who flout hospital rules

Assam health minister Ashok Singhal on Sunday warned that patients at medical colleges could be denied treatment if their attendants refuse to follow hospital protocols and doctors' instructions.

He made the remarks during an inspection of Tezpur Medical College and Hospital, India Today NE reported. Singhal said he had seen behaviour that could put patients at risk, including overcrowding around beds, people kissing newborns, and attendants walking into intensive care units and operation theatres without following hygiene rules.

Such practices, he said, can spread infection to people who are already vulnerable. He directed attendants to listen to doctors and to maintain hygiene on hospital premises.

Cleanliness and repairs

The minister also criticised the upkeep of several departments at the Tezpur campus, pointing to poor cleanliness, broken glass panels and weak maintenance. He instructed the principal and the superintendent to carry out repairs department by department, starting with gynaecology, paediatrics and surgery.

He said he took a dim view of the work done so far by the maintenance agencies and would return after 10 days to check whether the repairs had been done.

Separately, Singhal flagged delays in X-ray services at the hospital and said that problem would be taken up from the following day.

Super-speciality plans

During the same visit the minister repeated the government's plan to add super-speciality facilities at six medical colleges, in Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Silchar, Barpeta, Tezpur and Jorhat. The stated aim is to cut the number of Assam patients who have to leave the state for advanced treatment.

Tezpur Medical College is one of the newer government medical colleges in Assam and serves Sonitpur and neighbouring northern-bank districts. Overcrowding by attendants is a familiar complaint in public hospitals across the state, where families often travel long distances with a patient and stay on the ward for days.

Singhal's warning that treatment itself could be withheld is sharper than the usual appeal for cooperation. The report did not say whether a formal written order has been issued to medical college principals, or how such a rule would be applied in an emergency, when turning a patient away would raise ethical and legal questions.

What is clear from the inspection is that the minister wants both cleaner wards and stricter control over who enters sensitive areas such as ICUs and operation theatres. How the Tezpur administration acts on the 10-day repair deadline, and whether similar instructions go out to the other five colleges named for super-speciality upgrades, will show whether Sunday's remarks remain a warning or become standing policy.