Chandigarh: Nurses running medicines business at GMCH 32

Chandigarh: Nurses working at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) 32 are allegedly making the quick buck by providing patients with medicines and surgical items within the premises of the hospital, in accordance to their needs. This is allegedly being done as some of these nursing attendants in the operation theatres and ICUs run drugstores near the hospital. Some of them even insist that patients buy their medicines from their drug stores alone.

The case has been brought to the notice of the Chandigarh Vigilance Department which shall initiate a probe once the adviser assents for the same.

The staff has been caught red handed, when officials have been reported of the wrong doing.

"We had nabbed these nurses who were found selling medicines and other consumables inside the hospital. The complaint has been forwarded to the Health Secretary ," said the GMCH Director Principal, Dr Atul Sachdev.

Four nursing staff have been found to own shops in the names of their relatives in Sector 31, said GMCH officials .Since they have easy access to patients due to proximity, they are aware of what may be required pre and post surgery.

UT Health and Home Secretary, Anurag Aggarwal revealed, "The complaint has been sent to vigilance. I shall check the status and will certainly initiate an investigation."

There are five authorized chemists inside the hospital. "These nurses, who also work as chemists, offer medicines at lower rates than ours. We have a monthly rental that varies from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 60 lakh.The lower rates are possible for these nurses as they resell patients' medicines that are not utilized during surgery ," a chemist at Shiv Medicos inside the hospital, stated.

A daily diary report was lodged on March 10, by the chemists of the hospital against four nursing staff -Vijay, Bhagwan Mohan, and Birma -alleging malpractice. "We are trying to get the DDR converted into an FIR," Dr Sachdev said.

Nursing Association President, Vijay Kumar, one of the accused in the complaint, said, "This has been done to malign my image, as I take up issues related to the welfare of the nursing staff." When asked about the drug store in Sector 31 , he told TOI, "It is in my father's name. "