Colour-coded bedsheets to make it Swacch GHs

According to the order, white bed sheets would be used on Mondays, pink on Tuesdays, green on Wednesdays, yellow on Thursdays, violet, lavender or purple on Fridays, blue on Saturdays and peach or light grey on Sundays. 

“The ministry has decided to implement use of different colour bed sheets on all the seven days of the week in hospitals/institutes to ensure daily change of bed sheets,” reads the March 29 order issued by the ministry to hospitals.

The 19 hospitals include all seven All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Safdarjung hospital, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Chandigarh and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer), Puducherry. 

Dr J Balachander, Medical Superintendent, Jipmer, Puducherry welcomed the move, saying that infections are a hurdle in the process of healthcare delivery. “It is among the many measures taken by the Centre to reduce infections and risks of the same in hospitals. We will abide by it and have already started preparing to implement the colour scheme. However, more important is the cleaning of bedsheets. We are taking the necessary steps in that direction.” 

“We will see how it works, and then try to implement it in all public hospitals across the country,” Arun Panda, additional health secretary, told media persons. Asked how the government will ensure that the initiative is properly implemented at hospitals, Panda said: “Our men will make surprise checks at the hospitals to find out if our directions are being properly implemented. The Medical Superintendents have also been given the task to do so.” 

The initiative is part of the government’s Kayakalp programme, launched to promote cleanliness, hygiene and infection control practices in public health facilities. According to sources, health ministry officials have received several complaints over the last few months of increase in infections at public health facilities, with one of the reasons being use of the same bed sheets for several days even if the bed is allotted to a new patient.