WHAT AILS THE
FORENSIC DEPT
>> The State's premier health institution is struggling to cope with the sheer numbers of corpses that arrive for storage in the mortuary
>> Space and capacity is another handicap faced at the Forensic department with bodies of unidentified persons referred there by police stations piling up
>> The forensic department is currently operating with half its sanctioned strength but officials inexplicably claim it is not affecting the department's day-to-day functioning
PAST-TENSE
>> Multi tasking staff at the mortuary had mistakenly handed over the body of 24-year-old Januz Gonsalves of Goncoi, Aldona, to the CCP for disposal instead of that of another individual
>> A probe had revealed that the mix up happened because bodies routinely were being shifted from one cabinet to another because of cooling equipment failures
PANAJI: Staff shortage, inadequate capacity and an archaic ledger-based practice recording inward/outward movement of dead bodies are issues the Forensic and Toxicology department of the Goa medical college continues to grapple with eight months after the government lost face over a terrible mix up which left an Aldona family without their kin's mortal remains for the final rites.
The State's premier health institution is struggling to cope with the sheer numbers of corpses that arrive for storage in the mortuary. Besides, there is no sign yet of the promised digitizing of records and e-tagging of bodies with a UID-chip, committed by the government after the controversy rocked the State.
Authorities at the GMC however claim the paperwork is ready and a tender will shortly be floated for installation of a computerized records keeping system for the mortuary.
"It's in process. The tender could not be floated because of the Model Code of Conduct which was in force for the elections," said Dr Andre Fernandes, who is officiating as head of the Forensic and Toxicology department after the contractual services of his predecessor Dr Edmund Rodrigues were terminated following the body mix-up episode.
Multi-tasking staff at the mortuary had mistakenly handed over the body of 24-year-old Januz Gonsalves of Goncoi, Aldona, to the CCP for disposal instead of that of another individual. A probe had revealed that the mix up happened because bodies routinely were being shifted from one cabinet to another because of cooling equipment failures.
The incident had left the government red-faced and Health Minister Vishwajit Rane had publicly apologized and rushed to the family's home in Aldona where he made a series of promises including modernizing the mortuary and e-tagging of bodies. Meanwhile, space and capacity is another handicap faced at the Forensic department with bodies of unidentified persons referred there by police stations across the State piling up. So acute is the space problem at the mortuary that GMC authorities have been frantically shooting off letters to police stations urging them to take back and dispose bodies lying unclaimed for more than the legally specified time-frame.
The forensic department also suffers from an acute shortage. It is currently operating with half its sanctioned strength but officials inexplicably claim it is not affecting the department's day-to-day functioning.
