Doctor In Court, His Driver 'Examined' Patients At UP Hospital, Wrote Prescriptions

A doctor's driver allegedly examined patients and wrote prescriptions at a government hospital in Kanpur while the assigned doctor attended a court hearing, prompting the authorities to order a probe, a senior health official said on Friday.

The incident came to light after a video surfaced on social media on Wednesday, purportedly showing a man sitting in an OPD room at the Kanshiram Hospital near the Rama Devi Chauraha, speaking to patients and writing prescriptions.

Hospital authorities identified the man as Dev, the driver of emergency medical officer (EMO) Ramkesh.

According to hospital staff, Ramkesh was attending a court hearing when the alleged incident took place.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Haridatt Nemi said a three-member committee headed by Chief Medical Superintendent Piyush Mishra has been formed to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident.

"We took serious cognisance of the matter after it came to our notice," Nemi told PTI.

The committee will examine whether Dev examined patients in the OPD, prescribed medicines and if he had done so on previous occasions as well, and submit a report within three days, he said.

The driver has since been removed from the hospital, an official said on condition of anonymity.

The authorities are also examining how he gained access to the OPD, how many patients he attended and whether he prescribed medicines to them.

According to the official, Mishra has sought an explanation from Ramkesh and submitted a written complaint against the driver at Chakeri police station.

An inspection was conducted at the hospital on Tuesday, a day before the purported video surfaced, but no outsider was found at the time, Mishra said.

"The committee will examine the video and other relevant facts before fixing responsibility," he told reporters.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)