Daily Times

By Suleman Chaudhry

LAHORE: Despite various cases of child abduction in public hospitals, the authorities of teaching hospitals have failed to ensure appropriate security arrangements to overcome the menace, raising serious question marks on their administrative abilities.

Abduction of newborns from public hospitals has become a routine matter, as children are being abducted from the nurseries of government hospitals. Despite repeated requests by the Health Department, no special security arrangements have been made as yet.

A letter, comprising standard operation procedures (SOPs), has been issued by the Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education (SHE&ME) Department to the administration of Shaikh Zayed Hospital, all medical superintendents of teaching hospitals and all heads of specialised health institutions in Punjab.

According to these SOPs, the department has asked for an appropriate security system by appointing security guards in the gynae and paediatric wards, labour rooms and nursery units. In case it already existed, it must be strengthened and an effective liaison with police authorities may also be established.

The department directed that CCTV cameras must be installed at all appropriate places like waiting areas of the nurseries, labour rooms, wards and exit points to check the current trend of abductions of newborns/children. It must also be ensured that CCTV cameras were functional round the clock.

Proper guidelines were issued to the medical, paramedical, security staff that the newborns/children were not handed over to people other than the parents on verifying their identities. Every MS has been asked to devise proper SOPs besides sharing them with the SHC&ME Department. The SOPs made it mandatory for doctors and concerned staff to highlight detailed procedures regarding handing over of newborns to patients.

Labour room, nursery, paediatric and gynea wards should be a no-go-area and only patients/ child/newborns along with one attendant and staff of the ward shall be allowed in the unit proper instructions may be issued, the SOPs added.

During the stay of the mother in the hospital, family members should not be allowed to take the babies outside the ward/units. Parents/guardians should be made aware through instruction board and other means to keep their newborn children in their own custody/possession and must not be handed over to any other unreliable person in any case. The message should be clearly displayed at prominent places and spelt out in Urdu.

The SHE&ME secretary directed the medical superintendents of the hospital to ensure that the above said instructions are implemented in letter and spirit and in case of any incident of kidnapping/stealing of a newborn baby, the medical superintendent would be liable for disciplinary action under the rules.