Navhind Times: Panaji: Wednesday, June 28, 2017.
Health
Minister Vishwajit Rane on Tuesday said that powers of dean of the Goa Medical
College and Hospital, Bambolim, and its medical superintendent will soon be
bifurcated. Henceforth dean’s job functions will be restricted to academic
duties while the medical superintendent will now have more powers to manage
entire administration work.
Speaking to
media persons in the city, Rane said, “The GMC dean (Dr Pradeep Naik) will be
responsible only for academic duties without involvement in the hospital, while
the medical superintendent (Dr Shivanand Bandekar), as the norm in all big
hospitals, will look after the hospital administration. The official order for
the same is at the final stage (of preparation), and I think by this week I
will issue the order for the bifurcation of powers of the dean and the medical
superintendent.” “I feel that the dean should strictly spend his time only on
academics rather than anything else; and as he doesn’t find time to do anything
else we thought that it is better to give more powers to the medical
superintendent, who will report to the health secretary,” he maintained.
The state
government has started the process to sign a MoU with the central government to
procure 25 cochlear implants and rope in doctors who can conduct the surgery.
To set up a
regional cancer centre in the state, the government will sign a MoU with the
central government for which Rs 50 crore has been allocated. The state
government is likely to provide more financial help to set up the
state-of-the-art facility within the GMC premises, he said.
The GSIDC
will be the nodal agency to build infrastructure for the proposed regional
cancer centre.
Stating that
only few hospitals are benefitting from the Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana,
Rane said the government will review the scheme in September and bring about
changes.
“If you seek
information under RTI Act, you will come to know that only two-three major
hospitals are benefitting from the DDSY. This is not the role of the government
to allow only few hospitals to benefit. We must spread it (the scheme) out and
then only more people will avail it and more procedures can be included,” he
said.
He said that
three contractual posts of oncologist are being created for conducting cancer
surgeries at the GMC.
The
government will appoint three junior consultants and one senior consultant at
the cardiac centre to render round-the-clock services to the patients and also
to reduce the workload on the present batch of doctors.
Rane said the
government may start constructing a super-specialty block in front of Yatri
Niwas in the GMC premises in an area of 1300 square metre, as there has been
dispute on the site proposed earlier.
The minister
said the first fleet of 108 ambulances have arrived and they are being equipped
with advance life-saving equipment. These new ambulances will be put into
service by next month.
“By July-end
all the motorcycle ambulances will be made operational, and they will be
pressed into service along coastal belt initially and thereafter at accident
prone zones across the state,” he said.
The
government will procure new six cardiac ambulances and recruit 24 MBBS doctors
by mid-August with a salary structure of Rs 80,000 per doctor. These doctors
will work round the clock on these six cardiac ambulances along with attendants
at six different locations in Goa.
The
government will seek quarterly audit report on medicines purchased for the GMC
pharmacy.