PANJIM: Wednesday, October 7, 2015, doctors began reporting for duty at Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC) as usual, so did patients for the regular check-ups and emergencies, but little did anybody know what was in store for them.
At 8.15 am, a team of inspectors of the Medical Council of India (MCI) walked into the GMC and, say doctors, patients, employees and witnesses, held the institute to ransom.
For two days – Wednesday and Thursday – GMC’s functioning came to a grinding halt due to the inspection of the campus undertaken following Goa’s request for an increase in medical seats from 100 to 150.
Doctors and staffers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said inspectors asked all Operation Theatres (OTs) and the out patient departments (OPDs) to be shut immediately.
“There were around 48 surgeries slated for the day and patients had come fasting but at around noon they were told the operations have been cancelled and rescheduled,” a doctor said.
It was not only an inconvenience to patients but to their caretakers and relatives, many of who had come after applying for leave from their work.
A patient’s relative Dayanand Desai said, “We were called for an operation on Wednesday and we came from Sanguem. Around noon we were told it has been cancelled. How can they do this? I will have to take leave again to attend to my father.”
Not only the OTs, the MCI inspectors even hampered functioning of the regular OPDs and Radiology units like X-Rays, CT-scans, Ultrasound etc.
Sources in the GMC said doctors were badly treated and all, from junior to senior doctors, were told to go home and bring their original degree certificates.
“It is harassment. We were asked to bring the certificate within three hours by 2 pm. Now how is it possible to go home and come back in three hours if I live in a rural area? Not all doctors are from Panjim,” said a doctor.
The doctors said that Dean Dr Pradeep Naik panicked under pressure from the MCI inspectors. “The dean should have taken a stand that you cannot stop the functioning of the hospital for an inspection. He should have asked for time for submission of certificates. Why will the doctors carry original certificates with them? It’s ridiculous,” doctors told Herald.
When Herald contacted Dr Naik he refused to meet or even speak, saying he is busy with the inspections.
Herald inquiries revealed that while 48 operations were rescheduled on Wednesday, 26 were postponed on Thursday while OPDs were partially functioning on the second day.
Speaking to Herald, Joint Secretary (Health) Anthony D’Souza said, “This has been happening whenever there is an MCI inspection. These things happen. But I wonder why the hospital’s functioning be stopped for an inspection. We will look into it.”
