TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: In a bid to tide over the huge inflow of patients from outside the state to the Goa Medical College and Hospital, the government is planning to charge fees for consumables, from patients who do not have five years residency in Goa.
Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister Francis D’Souza said that only those living in Goa for over a period of five years, would be covered under the state’s universal mediclaim scheme.
“We are working on a plan to put restrictions on free-medical facilities to non-Goan patients at the Goa Medical College and Hospital. The proposal is still under consideration,” D’Souza told media persons on Tuesday.
The GMC caters to a huge volume of patients from outside the state due to better facilities and medicines which are available free of charge. Besides the lower staff, who determine the queue system for the OPD patients, too are migrants, who give priority to non-Goans.
Due to the increasingly heavy load there have been complaints from Goans about the quality of service and discrimination. In a bid to rationalise the work, the government is contemplating on charging non-Goan patients for consumables used for treatment as well as for some of the facilities. This implies, there will be no more free-medical treatment facility for non-Goans at GMC.
D’Souza, who was allocated the health portfolio during the recent cabinet reshuffle, said that with the huge inflow of patients from districts of neighbouring states, the load on the infrastructure on GMC has increased tremendously, which is paid for by the Goan taxpayers.
The deputy chief Minister, who is currently studying the department in detail, also said that he had noted that inefficiency and non-performance of duties by hospital staffers has affected medical service at large.
The government, under the then Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, had proposed to charge fixed nominal fees for costly consumables supplied to patients for their treatment. While it was proposed to charge locals about 10 percent of the cost of the material used, patients from outside Goa taking treatment at GMC will have to bear the total cost of the stent or implant but no charges for other services.
Speaking on the controversial Goa Agricultural Tenancy (amendment) Act 2014, D’Souza said that government is open to any suggestions and the same would be considered if they are logical and necessary.
