New Norm at Kerala Hospital call for Assistant Surgeons doing delivery, Gynaecologists fume

Soon as the news of the decision broke, the doctors at the institute came out to protest against the decision.

Responding to the order, Dr G S Vijayakrishnan, district secretary of Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) told TOI, “This is the first time that assistant surgeons are being put on duty in labour rooms, which will only bring down the quality of the treatment.”

“We cannot accept this and has asked the district medical officer to immediately withdraw the circular,” he said.

The doctors pointed out the such a decision will eventually paralyze the functioning of the other departments since the assistant surgeons, who are manning the duty of other wings, including casualty, will be now deployed in the labour rooms.

“This will only lead to bring down the number of deliveries in the government hospitals. At present only 40% of the total deliveries are occurring in the government sector, which was 52% two years back,” Vijayakrishnan added.

Condemning the decision , District President of KGMOA Dr L T Sanal Kumar told TOI, “We have decided not to accept this circular since it will only put down the treatment standards of the hospital, which had once received NABH accreditation. Such a move should be treated as an attempt to sabotage its functioning.”

The hospital records the highest number of childbirths after the SAT hospital in the district. On an average 500 deliveries take place in this hospital in a month, reports TOI.