Absenteeism, Forging Attendance: HOD Cardiology at Coimbatore Medical College Suspended by Health Minister

Coimbatore: Taking action against a cardiologist attached to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) for allegedly skipping work and forging the attendance record, Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Monday ordered suspension of the doctor, who also serves as the head of the department.

Inaugurating new facilities at the Madras Medical College, the Minister also visited CMCH to inspect and check the quality of services being provided to the patients. He was accompanied by Health Secretary P Senthil Kumar and the district collector.

While inspecting the hospital, he apparently received a number of complaints against the Head of the Department (HOD) of Cardiology Dr Munusamy, a resident of Salem who failed to show up at work frequently and whose alleged absence was causing inconvenience at the hospital.

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It was further alleged that despite his absence, he had an attendance record on the days when he was absent, which createdsuspicion among his colleagues. The matter was then informed to the Hospital Dean A Nirmala. During the inspection, the issue of the Cardiologist's absence was raised once again prompting him to instruct the Health Secretary to probe the matter.

The probe apparently revealed that the complaint against the doctor was indeed accurate as he found forged attendance in the register record of the hospital.

The Minister on Monday told TOI "We found that the staff marked CL if he does not come to work. He changes it to 'mu' in Tamil when he returns to work. His name is Munusamy and he signs as 'Mu', Kumar said. The health department will also hold a departmental inquiry against him."

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In a statement, Nirmala said that warnings were given to the doctor earlier about the matter, but he refused to change his behavior. "I am yet to receive the suspension order from the headquarters," Nirmala added.

In response to the matter, the cardiologist said "I was allotted a post in CMCH in March 2021 during the transfer counselling. But it was difficult to travel to Coimbatore from Salem daily. The inquiry should be conducted in a fair manner. I'm sure that assistant professors and postgraduate students will vouch for my contributions to the medical field."

Inaugurating a regional training centre for the doctors, the Minister said "Until now, doctors from TN had to go to the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Studies or JIPMER for this training. Now, we have two government hospitals in TN -- Madras Medical College and Madurai Medical College -- for this training."