Corporator wants breathanalysers at hospitals to stop drunk doctors

Last week, several discarded bottles of alcohol were found strewn in the premises of a major civic-run hospital

In a bid to bar the entry of drunk doctors and staffers, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) corporator wants civic hospitals to have breathalysers and blood alcohol tests. L-Ward corporator Dr Saeeda Khan, who is also a member of the BMC's health committee, sent a letter to Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta on September 27, asking for the same. Khan sent the letter after receiving numerous complaints about inebriated hospital staff, and upon learning last week about alcohol bottles being found at one of the biggest BMC-run hospitals.

Khan alleges that in several BMC-run hospitals, doctors, officers, and other staff come for duty in an inebriated state. She also got to know recently about discarded bottles of alcohol being found in one of the biggest civic-run hospitals. This prompted her to send the letter to Mehta.

Dr Saeeda Khan

Speaking to mid-day, Khan said, "Many visitors and relatives of patients have complained about doctors and other hospital staff coming on duty after consuming alcohol. In fact, sometimes they end up misbehaving with patients' relatives. As per the rules, consuming alcohol on duty is completely illegal. Especially in places like hospitals, where sensitive cases are being handled. This is ruining people's faith."

She added, "I have written a letter to the municipal commissioner about these happenings and demanded action against such offenders." Khan's letter, dated September 27, states, "There is no doubt that BMC's three major hospitals and 16 peripheral hospitals are doing well in treating patients. [However] A few hospitals have often seen complaints from the relatives of patients about staffers coming drunk on duty. Such an act is not acceptable, as it is a crime and it also raises question on patients and relatives safety."

The letter further says, "To tackle such situations, the civic body should use the system deployed by the traffic police to catch drink driving accused. BMC should set up a mechanism and keep breath analyzers in all civic hospitals to check if any doctor or staffers are under the influence of alcohol...Also, a blood alcohol test should be performed on the suspect within the hospital premises," added Khan. mid-day reached out to Mehta for comment, but he remained unavailable.

03
No. of major BMC-run hospitals

16
No. of peripheral BMC-run hospitals

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates