Baby Nearly Interchanged at RSHS Bandung, Commission IX of the DPR Wants Patient Security System Audited

Member of Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Arzeti Bilbina, asked the management of the Hasan Sadikin Hospital (RSHS) Bandung to tighten supervision to audit the patient security system following the incident of a baby who was almost exchanged. He emphasized that patient safety and security is an absolute priority that must not be compromised by any negligence.

"The management of RSHS must immediately conduct a thorough audit to evaluate the system so that similar incidents do not recur," Arzeti told reporters, Wednesday, April 15.

It is known that the unpleasant incident occurred to a mother named Nina Saleha. When her baby was scheduled to return from the NICU, Nina found that her child was already in someone else's hands after she had left the room for a moment to take care of the administration. Fortunately, the mistake was realized immediately before the baby was taken out of the hospital environment.

"This shows that there is still a gap in the supervision system that should not happen," said Arzeti.

Arzeti emphasized that the procedure for handing over babies must go through strict and layered verification. Verification, he said, should not be based solely on trust, but should match the parents' official documents with the baby's identity bracelet in a procedural and documented manner.

"The delivery of babies must go through a complete examination. The identity of the parents must be verified with official identification cards and matched with the baby's data. This is a basic principle that cannot be negotiated," he said.

The legislator from the East Java constituency also asked the hospital to conduct a thorough investigation, including checking the CCTV footage to dissect the chronology of the incident transparently. He reminded the hospital to also evaluate the possibility of outside parties deliberately taking advantage of the delay of field officers.

"Don't let there be any gaps, no matter how small. A mother must accept her own baby. This case should be a loud alarm for the Ministry of Health to tighten the standard operating procedures (SOP) for patient safety in all hospitals in Indonesia," concluded Arzeti.