JORHAT, Feb 21 - Assam Governor Professor Jagdish Mukhi today directed the Jorhat Medical College and Hospital authorities to stop the practice of attendants staying with patients all the time sitting on the beds and also bar stacking of luggage of attendants and patients beside the beds.
Mukhi, who after inaugurating the four-day Shivaratri celebrations at Sivasagar on Thursday, today visited the JMCH here and took stock of the services provided by the institute and its prevailing condition.
Speaking to mediapersons after the visit, the Governor said that during his visit to a few wards, he observed that more than one attendant was sitting along with each patient on the beds and the luggage of attendants and patients were strewn by the side of the beds.
Expressing his displeasure for allowing several attendants to stay with a patient and storing luggage beside the beds, Mukhi said such kind of activities will lead to bringing in germs that will spread infection in the area.
The Governor said that he has given one month�s time to the JMCH authorities to completely stop such practices. He stated that a system should be put in place under which attendants could visit their respective patients three times in a day after acquiring passes from JMCH officials.
Mukhi further said that the visits of attendants should be allowed only during visiting hours fixed by the institute. He suggested allotting a big waiting area or a hall for attendants to stay and keep their luggage. The Governor said that if an attendant was required by the JMCH staff then an announcement should be made in the waiting area.
Mukhi said that he will be visiting JMCH after a month to see whether his directives given to the authorities today were followed or not.
The Governor further said that another deficiency he had found in JMCH was that the institute had a neurosurgeon but no neurologist. �Again there was a state of art Cath Lab but no cardio surgeon�, he added. The hospital only had cardiologists.
�I have taken note of this deficiency and will do the needful soon to rectify the same ,� Mukhi said.
Regarding the breakdown of the cold chamber in the morgue, the Governor said that he was apprised about the matter and that a proposal from the JMCH authorities already had been submitted to the Government in this regard. Mukhi said that he was told that the funding to replace the cold chamber will be from funds to be allotted by the State Rajya Sabha MP KP Tasa.
It may be mentioned here that Alastair Neil MacDonald, a British tourist who had died aboard a luxury ship on January 31 here was kept in the morgue of JMCH inside a cooling chamber borrowed from the Tarajan Cremation Ground here for about a week before being cremated.
