Health Secretary infiltrates and inspects Guntur hospital services | Vijayawada News

Guntur: At first glance, he looked like another tired man fighting fever. Carrying a file, he filled an OP form at Guntur Government General Hospital (GGH), joined the queue of patients and waited silently. No entourage, no officials, no protocol.Hours later, the hospital administration realized that the “ordinary patient” was none other than state health secretary Saurabh Gaur, on a mission to learn first-hand about GGH’s services. He moved around the clinic, listened to doctors, answered routine questions and even picked up medications in line at the pharmacy like any other patient.Gaur later toured the departments with superintendent Dr SSV Ramana, interrogated a PG student accused of criticizing patients and frowned at nearly illegible prescriptions. He demanded a cleaner digital system to prevent patients from guessing their own medications. Spending more than an hour in the labs, he examined modules, work protocols, and response times. Unhappy with the inconsistencies, he ordered the introduction of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each doctor.The impact was immediate. Staff were nervous, complacency evaporated, and cracks in the system were exposed: unclear prescriptions, abrupt interactions, slow workflows, and a neglect of the patient experience. His undercover visit became a mirror of the system, forcing one of Andhra Pradesh’s busiest hospitals to improve services, embrace technology and put patients back at the center of care.Interestingly, Superintendent Dr. Ramana himself had recently gone undercover as an elderly rural patient to check the negligence. This time he had to get a taste of his own medicine when the health secretary walked in unannounced.