Class IV employees take Covid samples at Rajpura hospital

Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, February 26

Non-medical workers — the Class IV employees — were found collecting Covid samples of hundreds of people at the Rajpura Civil Hospital.

Despite having got a host of medical officers, lab technicians and nurses, who were imparted training for Covid-19 testing, the collection of samples by Class IV employees is putting the lives of people at risk. The collection of samples by inexperienced staff may cause serious internal injuries to people, experts said. Moreover, it was a breach of trust, they added.

Short of staff

We are extremely short of health staff. However, we will rectify the mistake immediately. — Dr Jagpal Inder Singh, SMO, Rajpura

The Class IV employees are said to have been taking the samples with the consent of senior doctors at the hospital.

The Tribune, during its investigation, found that Class IV employees were brazenly taking samples at the Rajpura Civil Hospital on Thursday morning. It has been learnt that the practice had been going on for the past few months. The sources said medical officers, to avoid the risk of getting infected, had asked these employees to take samples.

A doctor, pleading anonymity, said, “The practice has been going on for months. Nobody recognises who is taking the sample as they wear PPE kits.”

When questioned about the laxity by health officials, Patiala Civil Surgeon Dr Satinder Singh said Class IV employees were only assisting and not taking samples. He said, “I am informed by the SMO of Rajpura that they were only assisting medical officers. However, I will still ask the SMO to look into the issue.”

Dr Sumeet Singh, district epidemiologist, said, “Class IV employees cannot collect Covid samples at all. No one is allowed to collect these samples except the experts.”