Karnataka government is planning to create uniform regulations for autonomous institutions like the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health and the Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Accident Research. Absence of such regulations is causing delays in the appointment of directors to head these institutions.

According to the senior officials in the department of health and family welfare, senior doctors like Dr. Shivananda who is already in-charge of the Vani Vilas Women and Child Hospital and Dr. Srinivasan who heads the department of surgery at the Victoria Hospital have been asked to take on the responsibilities of the autonomous institutions which is now resulting in problems of negligence on all fronts in these medical facilities.

Right now the autonomous hospitals have their own governing councils, which select the doctors as the directors based on their seniority. But the State government wants to introduce uniform laws for these hospitals and has appointed in-charge senior doctors on a temporary basis.

While the doctors in charge divide their attention between the two healthcare institutions, where they spend half day in one facility and the remaining hours in the next hospital, has resulted in laxity in administration because of lack of proper attention to several day-to-day issues, stated the health department officials.

Both Vani Vilas Hospital and Victoria Hospital come under the purview of Dr. R Seethalakshmi, medical director, government of Karnataka who is of the opinion that it is the government's prerogative to appoint senior doctors to head institutions rather than leave the post vacant to oversee the daily developments.

In order to ban unscrupulous activities like ward boys offering beds in unoccupied special wards at the Vani Vilas Hospital to travellers reaching Bangalore during night, the government has been forced to intensify the night patrolling, conduct surprise checks and prevent any deceitful activities.

Dr. Seethalakshmi told Pharmabiz.com that all efforts are made to nab culprits indulging in immoral and unscrupulous activities in the government hospitals. The medical director has been empowered to suspend any D grade employee indulging in corrupt activities. Plans to review the contract of the existing private security agencies at the government hospitals are on and if it were found that they were encouraging illegal activities, the contract would be terminated. Regular surprise inspections have been carried out at the government hospitals, but there have been problems to regularly organise surprise checks at the Vani Vilas Hospital mainly because it is a women's' hospital and only very few men are allowed inside after the evening visiting hours.