IAS officer disguises herself as patient for surprise hospital check. What she found

IAS Krati Raj wore a ghoonghat to disguise herself as a patient

An IAS officer disguised herself as a patient to conduct a surprise inspection at a government health centre in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad this Tuesday. IAS officer Krati Raj reached the health centre wearing a ghoonghat or veil to conceal her face, where she mingled with other patients without overt security.

Firozabad SDM (Sadar) Krati Raj found several inconsistencies during her inspection of Dida Mai health centre in Firozabad. She found expired medicines at the pharmacy, employees not at work despite being marked present, lack of cleanliness and hygiene, and injections not being administered properly to patients.

Raj, an IAS officer of the 2021 batch, also spoke to the doctor while disguised as a patient and found his conduct to be unsuitable.

#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh: Sub-Divisional Magistrate Sadar Kriti Raj inspected a government health centre in Firozabad, after receiving several complaints regarding inconveniences faced by patients.

(Source: SDM Office) pic.twitter.com/UZamZhpvxJ

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) March 13, 2024

“Half the medicines were expired, cleanliness was also not maintained,” she added. “Work was not being done in the spirit of public service. We have noted these complaints and we are investigating.”

One video shared by news agency ANI shows the IAS officer taking employees of the government health centre to task for stocking expired medicines.

However, Chief Medical Officer Dr Rambadan Ram denied that expired medicines were being given to patients. “I conducted an inspection at 12.05 pm on Wednesday. Work was on for cleanliness and painting. No major shortcomings, as pointed by SDM were found at the health centre,” the CMO was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

“There were no expired medicines being distributed to patients. The medicines with expiry dates in March and April 2024 were kept separately and were not being used. They were to be discarded and were mentioned in the discharge register. It appears that the SDM found a ‘wrong’ box of medicines with expiry date,” he said.