Internal committee to assess quality of food provided in Covid hospitals

After multiple complaints of sub-standard quality and insufficient quantity of food being supplied to Covid-19 designated hospitals, the Delhi government on Friday

After multiple complaints of sub-standard quality and insufficient quantity of food being supplied to Covid-19 designated hospitals, the Delhi government on Friday released an order directing hospitals to appoint an internal committee of nurses and paramedics who will look into the issue.

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An administrative officer will also be posted to hospitals who be responsible for sorting out issues related to accommodation of healthcare professionals in the city, who are the forefront in the fight against Covid-19.

The Delhi government order read, “Medical director/director of designated Covid hospitals are directed to appoint a committee of nurses and paramedics in their hospital level to monitor the quantity, quality and timing of the food distribution and report to the medical director, in case of an issue.”

The government has also ordered that an administration officer will be posted in each of these hospitals to sort out any issue related to food and accommodation.

“He (the administration officer), in consultation with the medical director of the hospital, will identify suitable accommodations where there is a provision of food in-house to accommodate nurses and paramedics,” the order added.

Mini Joseph, joint secretary, Joint Federation of Nurses, said that there have been several complaints regarding poor quality food being distributed to medicos in hospitals and hostels. Another major issue was that not everyone is being provided with alternative accommodation, despite working in close proximity with Covid-19 infected patients.

“This is a welcome move. We are glad that our voice has finally reached the government. Work will be more effective if the issues of frontline workers are addressed,” Joseph said.

Last week, nurses at Delhi government’s Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital took to social media to show the poor quality and insufficient quantity of food being given to them in the hospital hostel.

The video showed nurses saying that after gruelling 14-hour shifts, they were given stale food that too in rationed quantities. The video also showed that they were surviving on food being brought to them by colleagues, who were living near the hospitals.

“A large section of health workers complained about food. That necessitated some rearrangements and we will address the issue,” Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain had said then.

Around the same time, a group of 15 nurses and paramedics were also asked to vacate their rooms in a five-star hotel in east Delhi abruptly in the middle of the night just as they started their 14-day quarantine. This team was later provided with accommodation at a guesthouse in Mayur Vihar.

“We are not here to raise any problems, we just want to do our duty well. If the government assures us that these issues will be sorted then why we will also be able to give our 100% in supporting the administration in the fight against this epidemic,” said a nurse, who has been posted at the intensive care unit (ICU) of Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital.