Govt Doctors found needlessly referring Patients to GMCH to face action, warns Minister

Panaji: Government doctors working in peripheral hospitals would face action if they unnecessarily refer patients to the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Panaji, state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane warned. 

The minister's warning is aimed at reducing patient inflow at the GMCH in Bambolim and decongesting the much sought-after state-run medical facility.

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In a media statement issued here, Rane said a medical audit of the GMCH will be undertaken soon.

The minister's statement came a day after his visit to the Goa Medical College and Hospital, where he witnessed wards teeming with patients and some of the sick sleeping on the floor.

On Tuesday, Rane had asked GMCH officials to shift some of the patients to the nearby super speciality block of the hospital complex.

"A medical audit of the GMCH will be undertaken on top priority," the minister said in the statement.

He said government doctors who refer patients to the GMCH when they can be treated with required protocols at peripheral health centres and sub-district hospitals will face severe consequences.

"The Secretary of Health has been given necessary instructions in this regard and action will be taken accordingly," the minister added. 

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that the patients arriving at South Goa District Hospital are being referred to Goa Medical College (GMC) due to the non-availability of orthopaedic implants and MRI facilities at the District hospital.

The patients in need of ICU care, unstable cardiac patients requiring a cardiologist's opinion as well as investigation and treatment of coronary angiography are being sent to the GMC as well.

Between 2017 and 2021, more than 14,000 patients were referred from Hospicio hospital in Margao to GMC. Now, within eight months of October 2021, nearly 2,600 patients were referred from the South Goa District Hospital to GMC.  

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