GLENN COSTA
BAMBOLIM: The Goa Medical College and Hospital at Bambolim has some 1000 items including 500 plus medicines that it purchases through the central stores (pharmacy). However, tenders for most items have not been cleared for at least two years tenders till around 15 days back a combined tender – for GMC and DHS was opened. The tender was delayed willfully or not is a call that has to be taken given that after all procedures were done it was postponed at the last minute to issue a corrigendum. At least ten of them (corrigendums) were put out.
However, for the past two years, the medicines were mostly bought from GAPL at retail rates.
People were also asked to go and buy from there. But the lines were so long that many people actually went to private pharmacies to pick up the medicines.
Imagine the loss: On Glucose strips itself for one year the loss is Rs 25 lakh.
The problem was two-fold:
For OPD patients, those items in this approx 300 list, patients were not given the medicine, but had to buy from out. For in-patients, sometimes patients were asked to buy those items on their own, or, the purchases are done by GMC through local purchase.
Local purchase means purchasing without tender. The purchases are then done at MRP – which is 20 -30% higher. For cancer medicines it can even be a 10-fold increase.
In Goa like the rest of the country, the public health centres cater to 20-30% of patients, and the rest are taken care by the private sector.
From time to time, we come across reports and feedbacks from health staff, from patients and doctors about poor quality of medicines and items like implants in public health hospitals – both in terms of lack of effectiveness, as well as visible defects.
Cutting corners to fulfill the low tender costs is very common.
Problems leading to shortfalls:
1. Delay in tendering: This results in disruption of supplies and unavailability of the products in the hospitals. At times hospitals supply medicine and surgical items even to wards by ‘rationing’.
2. Tendering below the required quantities: This leads to arguments between the stores and the wards. Patients then have to buy many of their medicines, surgical items, etc from private pharmacies with their “own” money.
Public health centres/hospitals do a lot of “Local purchases”, i.e. the centres have been authorized to purchase medicines which are prescribed by the doctor but not available at the centre (either not in the procurement list of the government and which have run out of stocks, or those not in the list at all).
(This is a part of our continuing series of reports on the GMC’s ill health and its causes. Watch this space)
A bitter pill
# At least ten last minute corrigendums were put out cancelling tenders for medicines
# Rs 25 lakh loss on Glucose strips itself in one year
# OPD patients told to purchase medicines from private pharmacies
# Doctors and patients complain that medicines and implants are of poor quality
# ‘Rationing’ of medicines and surgical items even in GMC wards
