Taking a strict note of the instances of patients being referred to other hospitals, the Punjab government on Wednesday ordered a probe into the practice.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Brahm Mohindra, taking a serious note of the practice, on Wednesday ordered an in-depth investigation of all such cases where the patients have been referred to another hospital on one pretext or other. He instructed civil surgeons to make sure that quality health services are provided to citizens and that the practice of referring patients to other hospitals unnecessarily is curbed.

Asking the civil surgeons to monitor the patients' data being uploaded at the district level, Mohindra said that it was found that most of the districts send incomplete and defective data to the headquarters, regarding health facilities provided to the patients."In such a situation, it becomes difficult for the headquarters to review and assess the real impact of the health schemes. Henceforth, the civil surgeon concerned would be held accountable for any flaw in the data," he added.