Amid complaints, Kerala to train hospital staff on patient-friendly behaviour

Amid mounting complaints over poor patient care and discourteous behaviour in government hospitals, the Kerala government has made it mandatory for hospital staff to undergo structured training in patient-friendly service delivery.

The Health and Family Welfare Department has ordered a comprehensive training programme for all categories of staff, excluding Medical Officers, across government health institutions. The initiative will focus on patient care, communication skills, public relations, professional ethics, behavioural management, grievance redressal and efficient service delivery.

According to a Health & Family Welfare Department order, the decision follows an increase in complaints from patients and their attendants about inadequate assistance, rude behaviour, poor communication and unsatisfactory public interaction by hospital staff. The government observed that such incidents adversely affect patient care and erode public confidence in the state's healthcare system.

The training will cover employees of Government Medical College Hospitals, District Hospitals, General Hospitals, Women and Children Hospitals, Model Hospitals, Taluk Headquarters Hospitals and Taluk Hospitals across Kerala.

The government has also made the training mandatory for all security personnel, including those employed on temporary, contractual or outsourced basis. No security staff member will be allowed to continue on duty without successfully completing the programme.

The move comes against the backdrop of several controversies involving government hospitals, including allegations of medical negligence, delays in treatment and communication failures that have triggered public protests and inquiries.

In July this year, the Government General Hospital in Neyyattinkara came under scrutiny after a 53-year-old man died during treatment. His family alleged that despite informing hospital staff that he was suffering from severe chest pain, security personnel made him wait instead of ensuring immediate medical attention.

In another incident that happened in May, a woman from Pathanamthitta alleged that doctors at the Government District Hospital, Kozhencherry, failed to remove one of the two broken needle fragments through surgery. Two fragments were left inside her body a year earlier. The hospital maintained that medical complications prevented the removal of the remaining fragment during the same procedure, with both the family and the doctors blaming each other for communication gaps.

Earlier, in November 2025, the family of a 26-year-old woman who died after childbirth at a government hospital in Thiruvananthapuram also alleged that repeated complaints of abdominal pain and signs of infection after delivery were ignored, leading to her death.

Training implementation
To roll out the programme, four officials from each district and every Government Medical College will be selected for a Training of Trainers (ToT) programme.

For Government Medical College Hospitals, the ToT programme and training module will be conducted and developed by the Apex Trauma and Emergency Learning Centre (ATELC). The trained master trainers will subsequently conduct institution-level training in their respective medical colleges.

For District Hospitals, General Hospitals, Women and Children Hospitals, Model Hospitals, Taluk Headquarters Hospitals and Taluk Hospitals, the State Institute of Health and Family Welfare (SIHFW) will conduct the ToT programme. The trained officials will then organise district- and institution-level training sessions.

To ensure hospital services are not disrupted, the training will be held in batches of no more than 10 participants at a time, with schedules prepared by the respective heads of institutions.

The Director of Medical Education will oversee implementation in Government Medical College Hospitals through ATELC, while the Director of Health Services will supervise the programme in other government health institutions through SIHFW.

The government has directed the respective directors to ensure that all eligible staff complete the training within two months of the order and to closely monitor compliance