Herald: There are apprehensions in the minds of doctors and the people that GMC will die a slow death if all the 447 interventions are given to the private hospitals under the Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana. Your say?
Francis: See we are giving all 447 interventions to both GMC and private institutions. By doing this we are giving facility to the patients. You have to understand that the scheme is for the patients and for the people of Goa as they should reach the nearest hospital as fast as possible.
Herald: But don’t you think in the process the oldest medical college in Asia would be affected?
Francis: It won’t affect the Goa Medical College and Hospital, it is only an apprehension. Do you mean as on today, private hospitals don’t have a job? Do they not have patients? They may have at least 60 to 70 per cent capacity. With the DDSSY Scheme they may get 30-40 per cent increase, which in turn will decrease 30-40% load at GMC.
Herald: Please continue…
Francis: We need the scheme for that purpose only. We want to decrease the load at the GMC, the whole purpose is to GMC and benefit the people. We are meeting both the issues in one go.
Herald: What happens to the medical college, apprehensions are the seats could be reduced from 150 to 100 if OPD intake is less?
Francis: Well, this is again a myth, we have enough patients at GMC required as per MCI guidelines. Just in case we have any issues we will review the scheme by March, if required we will review that earlier also.
Herald: How has been the response to the DDSSY Scheme so far?
Francis: As on today we have already received 1.3 lakh applications, which is a huge number and it is increasing every day. So far we have have 25,000 cards also ready. So the response is good and we are set for August 15 launch.
