Firm ‘no’ to outside food in hospitals
BENGALURU:
Cracking down on the malpractice of outside food being brought for patients in government hospitals, the health department has passed an order banning such a practice.
The order on Thursday by the Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Services, Pankaj Kumar Pandey, invoked the provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897.
The order notes that government hospitals in the state are providing good and wholesome food to in-patients on the advice of in-house dieticians.
It noted that hospital premises are restricted areas and allowing outside food in hospital wards is unacceptable in the interest of the health of the in-patients.
The advisory says inter alia that all food procured for patients should be monitored by the dietician and the area food safety officers. It stresses cleanliness and hygiene of kitchens, storage rooms and food handlers, and calls for periodic check-ups of food handlers.
The advisory says the ban on outside food should not be broken even on occasions when some ‘celebrities’ want to distribute fruits, milk, etc., to patients directly, and warns of the risk of infections thereby.
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