Government hospitals in Haryana get coloured bedsheets to ensure hygiene

Breaking away from the norm of using white linen bedsheets in government hospitals, the health department has introduced colour sheets, which will alter daily under a weekly colour scheme.

The scheme was started on Monday and comes nine months after Haryana health minister Anil Vij directed all chief medical officers in the state to implement the scheme as a measure to protect patients from infection and ensure a high standard of cleanliness.

As per health department officials, the Civil Hospital and Sector 10 Government Hospital will have violet bedsheets on Monday, indigo on Tuesday, blue on Wednesday, green on Thursday, yellow on Friday, orange on Saturday and peach on Sunday. The new colour scheme will be adopted in all wards of the two hospitals.

“Each bed sheet will have a day imprinted on it, which will ensure that the sheets will not be repeated and are washed. The white sheets are regularly cleaned but the initiation will help us differentiate clean and used bedsheets and also establish an infection-free environment in the hospital,” said Kanta Goel, chief medical officer, Gurgaon.

As per officials, the state health department officials has procured more than 2.6 lakh coloured bedsheets at a cost of ₹5.6 crore.

So far 1.5 lakh coloured sheets have been distributed. The sheets have been made and certified by the Northern India Textile Association, Panipat.

Health department officials confirmed that they will not discard the white bedsheets, numbering in thousands, that are currently being used in government hospitals. The department will use them in case there is a shortage of sheets or during emergencies.

“The colour-coded bedsheets will ensure that patients get clean sheets — there have been instances of sheets being unwashed and dirty, thereby posing a risk of patients and hospital staff contracting infections,” Satish Dayal, a resident of Sector 14 and a patient at the Civil Hospital, said.