The sprawling South Goa District Hospital has stoked a controversy after a terminally ill patient who reported low oxygen concentration was referred to a private hospital in Margao for Intensive Care treatment.
While the debate was on the reference being given to a private hospital, doctors attending to her maintained that the patient declined the option of GMC and chose a private hospital in the city. Subsequently, the patient's family countered the doctors' claim and stated that no option of GMC was made available to them at the time of discharge. It then came to light that the hospital transfer referral form had referred the patient to the private hospital, and no mention of the GMC was made.
While the incident highlights a break in protocol, it calls for the need to put internal systems in place. Can the attending doctors refer to private hospitals based on the choice of patients and families, or should they stick to the hospital guidelines? The rule doctors have to make a reference to another government hospital, in this case, the GMC, and it is for the family to decide on moving the patient to a private hospital.
The health director may have ordered a detailed probe after this newspaper carried a series of reports on the incident, but authorities must ensure that there is absolute clarity on the subject, especially against the background that there is a strong suspicion that private hospitals have tacit arrangements with some doctors in the district hospitals.
The larger issue, however, is over the non-functional ICU facility at the south district hospital, which boasts state-of-the-art facilities. The hospital has a fully-equipped 10-bed ICU facility, which is sadly non-operational due to a lack of manpower. An ICU facility requires specialists such as cardiologists, medical officers, nurses trained to work in intensive care environments and multi-tasking staff, and the services of these have to be available round the clock.
If we may recall, the issue of lack of facilities reverberated in the budget session of the Legislative Assembly earlier this year when data showed that doctors at the district hospital referred 3,312 patients to GMC last year. The argument was that it is a logistical nightmare and a major health hazard for patients from far-flung areas of Goa who arrive at Margao and are told to shift to GMC.
Ironically, it was in March this year that Health Minister Vishwajit Rane assured the House within three months, the government will select the best model among those identified by NITI Aayog to provide integrated services at the hospital while also disclosing plans to take HLL Lifecare Pvt Ltd on board. It is six months now that the situation at the District Hospital remains unchanged.
Goa has seen a massive upgrade in healthcare with the super speciality block of GMC standing testimony, but the facilities at the South District Hospital, which was projected as a state-of-the-art healthcare facility, completely pale out.
The argument of the non-availability of full-time specialists to run the ICU at the hospital does not hold water when alternative systems can be explored. When the State was at a Covid-19 peak, the government had tied up with private players to offer ICU facilities and even capped rates for treatment. Why is such an arrangement not explored for critical cases?
The government must take healthcare at the district hospital seriously in the larger interest of those who daily traverse the thin line between life and death.
