Vijayawada GGH officials probing why biomedical waste room was kept unlocked

Officials of the Government General Hospital (GGH) in Vijayawada, who conducted a preliminary inquiry into the incident in which a street dog ran away with an amputated limb, suspect a conspiracy.

The dog, which picked up the amputated limb of a patient from the biomedical waste room, allegedly took it outside a couple of days ago. An outsourcing employee of the GGH reportedly recorded the incident on his mobile phone and shared the video footage on social media groups.

Suspecting foul play, the GGH officials who conducted the inquiry, questioned why the employee took video instead of alerting the staff concerned.

No CCTV

Meanwhile, there is no CCTV near the biomedical waste room. “The operation theatre staff handover the biomedical waste to the sanitary staff, who then dump it in the waste room and lock it. However, it is unclear how the dog entered the room and picked up the plastic bag containing the waste,” said a medical officer.

“The biomedical waste room is always kept locked. We are inquiring why the room was left unlocked,” the doctor said. Meanwhile, GGH staff claim that there have been internal disputes within the hospital. Some outsourcing staff might have conspired in the incident, they alleged.

Speaking to The Hindu, GGH Superintendent Dr. A. Yedukondalu said that the maintenance of biomedical waste room has been handed over to a private agency. “Instructions have been given to install surveillance cameras in the room and to follow a foolproof system for storing and disposing the waste,” the Superintendent said.

“We are also inquiring why there was no security at the biomedical waste room when the incident happened,” Dr. Yedukondalu said.