Haryana issues sweeping directives to improve govt hospital services

Haryana's government has issued directives to enforce discipline and accountability in state hospitals, with surprise inspections and punitive action to follow for negligence and poor management.

Haryana on Wednesday announced a series of measures aimed at enforcing discipline, accountability and round-the-clock healthcare services in government hospitals across the state.

The directives were issued by Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Sumita Misra, following a high-level State Task Force review meeting with civil surgeons, principal medical officers (PMOs), senior medical officers (SMOs), and senior health department officers.

Misra made it clear that negligence, poor infrastructure maintenance and lax hospital management would no longer be tolerated. She warned officers that surprise inspections, raids and strict punitive action would follow wherever standards were found lacking on the ground.

According to an official statement, the meeting focused on strengthening hospital operations, improving patient services and ensuring that vulnerable patients do not suffer due to administrative failures or equipment breakdowns.

Officers were directed to treat all instructions as immediately enforceable and submit compliance reports to state headquarters by Monday.

To improve hospital supervision and patient care, Misra directed all PMOs, SMOs and civil surgeons to conduct at least two mandatory rounds daily in their respective hospitals.

The ACS also ordered that in-house laboratory services in government hospitals must function on a 24-hour basis so that patients are not forced to visit private facilities for routine diagnostic tests.

She directed that radiology services, including X-ray and MRI facilities, must remain operational round-the-clock without interruption.

All hospitals have been instructed to submit a detailed audit report of functional and non-functional medical equipment to the headquarters by Monday. Non-working machinery must be immediately reported for urgent corrective action.

Misra directed doctors to ensure that dialysis machines remain fully functional at all times. She stressed that no patient dependent on dialysis should suffer because of equipment failure, staff shortage or operational delays.

Misra also laid strong emphasis on women's safety, dignity and hygiene inside hospitals. She directed hospital administrations to ensure special attention towards women patients during treatment and hospitalisation.

Toilets in women's wards and related facilities are now to be cleaned every hour, while security arrangements across hospital premises are to be strengthened significantly, she said.

She said uninterrupted availability of clean drinking water in all hospitals must be ensured and ordered that lifts in government medical institutions remain fully functional at all times, especially for elderly and critically ill patients.

Officers were also directed to plant fruit-bearing and flowering trees within hospital premises to create a healthier and more patient-friendly environment.

Misra said dedicated Health Department teams would carry out surprise raids in hospitals across Haryana to assess the actual ground situation. Any deficiency in services, cleanliness, patient care or infrastructure would invite immediate and strict action against the officials responsible.

In a significant directive, Misra ordered registration of FIRs against any private ambulance or transport vehicle found operating illegally inside government hospital premises.

The move is being viewed as part of a wider crackdown on unauthorised private influence within public healthcare institutions.

She also directed authorities to intensify raids under the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act to strengthen the government's ongoing campaign against illegal sex determination and sex-selective practices.

Misra instructed all district health authorities to respond promptly to issues highlighted in the media regarding local hospitals and submit Action Taken Reports without delay on every complaint or lapse reported publicly.