CCTV cameras, 24×7 security: Odisha’s plan for doctors’ safety in hospitals

Odisha has implemented a new plan to ensure the safety and security of doctors, students and healthcare workers across all medical facilities and institutions in the state. According to a notification issued by the state’s Health Department, CCTV cameras must be installed at strategic locations in all institutions, on each floor of hostels and on the main gates and roads.
The notification, published on Wednesday, also said that control rooms will be set up to monitor the CCTV footage, with at least three months of backup.
It has called for round-the-clock deployment of security guards, both male and female, outside wards and in all outpatient departments (OPD).
It also said that an FIR will have to be lodged with the police within six hours after any incident of violence against students is reported. Immediate police action must be taken, and an action report has to be sent within 48 hours of the incident to the National Medical Commission (NMC).
The state government has also directed the institutions to provide dress codes and identity cards to all its employees, while also mandating a visitors’ pass system for indoor patients.
As per the notification, only two entry passes will be issued per patient – one to meet the patient during official visiting hours and the second for attendants entering the ward.
It further called for the setting up of a police outpost at all state-run medical colleges and hospitals. At least one female officer must be present on duty at all times.
Signage highlighting the penal provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Odisha Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage of Properly) Act, 2008 will be placed in front of the institutions.
The Odisha government’s new security plan comes more than a month after the rape and murder of the 31-year-old trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The incident has triggered widespread protests across the country to highlight the lack of security for women doctors and students.