After showering petals on hospitals and praising the doctors treating COVID-19 patients, the State government went ahead and cancelled the accomodation that had been granted to the resident doctors treating the novel coronavirus affected patients at the ESI COVID Hospital and South Goa District Hospital. Later, after the doctors announced that they were withdrawing their services from the two Covid hospitals and would be returning to their parent departments in Goa Medical College, the South Goa Collector issued a letter allowing the doctors to continue staying at the accomodations. It is understandable that the doctors felt hurt by the decision to withdraw the accomodation, it was not expected from the government. What is required at this stage are cool minds of the doctors, and not the threat of being left without accomodation.
The threat of a major setback to the treatment of COVID-19 patients in the State may have been averted just in the nick of time, but this is not the way to treat the doctors working with the novel coronavirus patients. The pandemic is a long way from over, and such an action will not inspire confidence in other doctors who in the weeks and months ahead will be drafted to work in the COVID-19 hospital. This is also an example of a government that shows not the least bit of concern for its citizens. If that’s the manner in which doctors who are attending to COVID-19 patients are being treated, can the patients be expected to be given better treatment?
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For that matter the government’s handling of the medical services in the COVID facilities have left much to be desired since the beginning of the pandemic. There have been scores of complaints from patients and those attending to them. There was also absolutley no planning involved when the government in the early weeks of the pandemic created a 170 bed hospital that filled up within days of the borders being opened, forcing the creation of more hospitals and COVID care centres. In August the government was forced to revamp the management of the hospitals. It is almost as if the government has been experimenting with the treatment and management of the pandemic. It took the notice of withdrawal of the services by the resident doctors’ association for the government to change its mind on the accomodation. Was this another experiment?
There does appear to be some tussle here between the government and the bureaucracy as the Health Minister Vishwajit Rane slammed State Executive Committee (SEC) that is headed by the Chief Secretary for directing the resident doctors working in COVID-19 facilities to vacate the accommodations given to them by the State government. Rane said, that the SEC is not a ‘parallel government’. That it definitely is not, but does it have to be reminded of its place by a minister? Yet, given this incident, one has to begin to wonder whether it is the bureaucracy that does have the upper hand in this administration?
But why these politics or such juvenile one-upmanship in the midst of a pandemic? This could have led to a major setback to Goa’s fight against COVID as the services of almost 70 doctors would have been abruptly unavailable had not the impasse ended in favour of the resident doctors. The threat of being left without doctors has been averted but who can assure that there won’t be another such incident in the future? If, in the midst of a pandemic, the government can purchase medicines and equipment at markets rates or prices above that, can’t it provide accomodation to its doctors treating the COVID-19 patients? The doctors treating COVID-19 patients deserve a better deal and the government has to be responsive to their needs.
