TN to Roll Out Tag System for Attendants in Govt Hospitals

Chennai- Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian announced the phased introduction of a new tag system to manage patient attendants across all government medical colleges, district hospitals, and taluk hospitals. This move follows an attack on senior oncologist Dr. Balaji Jagannathan by the son of a cancer patient at Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital (KCSSH).

The tagging system, initially piloted at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) last month, aims to enhance the safety of healthcare staff and reduce overcrowding. The system uses color-coded tags to identify attendants based on patient areas: green for surgical super specialties, red for ICU, yellow for super specialty departments, and blue for general wards. Each patient will receive two tags for their attendants.

It will be introduced in 36 government medical colleges, 37 district headquarters hospitals, and 320 taluk hospitals across the state.

Responding to requests from doctors’ associations, the government will also test metal detectors and baggage scanners in select hospitals to strengthen security. Alongside the tagging initiative, nearly 15 government hospitals now offer pay wards to accommodate the middle-income group, building on the existing facilities at RGGGH.

To ensure safety across campuses, Tamil Nadu has directed health and police departments to conduct joint security audits. The audits will assess CCTV operations, lighting, and police presence in all government hospitals.