[ Bengia Ajum ]
ITANAGAR, 22 Oct: The health department has issued an order, making it mandatory for medical personnel who are attending duty to wear hospital uniforms while on duty.
In an order, Health Secretary Ira Singhal said that all doctors, nursing officials, paramedical workers, and all other hospital staffers/personnel of the health department shall wear hospital uniforms like doctor aprons, nursing uniforms, etc, compulsorily, along with name tags, during duty.
“They shall not wear casual clothes like jeans, or T-shirts during hospital duty,” the order read.
The respective hospital in-charges have been assigned the responsibility of implementing the order.
Meanwhile, the order has drawn mixed reactions from health department officials. The Indian Medical Association’s Arunachal Pradesh chapter (IMA-AP) president Dr Kesang Wangdi Thongdok said that proper dressing is desirable but enforcing a dress code is not warranted.
“For medical and nursing students, strict dress code is implemented. Also, it is for the nurses on duty. But for doctors, any decent clothing will do. The apron is mainly to protect clothing from getting soiled and is worn in the hospital during duty. But it is not required for attending a meeting,” said Dr Thongdok.
He said also that doctors have to change clothing during duty hours while attending OT/minor/OT/ICU, etc. “So they just need to put on clothing which is comfortable, decent, and easy to wear,” he added.
Some doctors have raised issues over the lack of clarity in the order. “The notice given is a kind of general order, which does not specify official duty properly. The official duty for administrative works, hospital works, and different sections of the hospital is different, which this order did not specify. The apron worn by doctors is one of the dirtiest in terms of having the highest exposed bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms,” said a doctor working in a government hospital.
