Patiala, July 21 -- Days after a power outage at the Gidderbaha Civil Hospital in Muktsar district exposed serious lapses in emergency power backup during an orthopaedic surgery, the Punjab health department has ordered an inspection of diesel generator (DG) sets installed in all government hospitals across the state.

The decision comes after a July 12 incident when hospital staff had to use the battery from a patient's attendant's car to start the backup DG set when the power supply failed in the middle of a surgical procedure, raising concerns over the reliability of emergency systems in public healthcare institutions.

In a communication (seen by HT) issued to all civil surgeons on July 16, the directorate of health and family welfare...