Official figures indicate patient referrals to GMC drop
MAPUSA
Contrary to common perception, the number of patients referred from North Goa District Hospital (Asilo) to Goa Medical College and Hospital is much less and if official records are to be believed, it indicates a gradual decline. In March, the number of patients referred to GMC came down to 312, the official record indicates. The number of referral patients was 322 in February and 365 in January. More interestingly, the number of patients admitted in Asilo has gone up to 1,396 in March, as compared to 1,257 in February and 1,266 in January. Almost 6,763 first time (new cases) Out Patient Department (OPD) patients met various doctors at the Asilo in March, while in the same month, the figure of second time (old cases) OPD patients touched 19,115. The casualty department appears to be the busiest section of Asilo, as the number of patients shot up to 4,213 in March, while it was 3622 in February and 3758 in January. The common belief is that most patients coming to Asilo are immediately referred to the GMC. And it s attributed to two reasons – shortage of doctors and crucial medical apparatus. Doctors on duty do not want to take responsibility and therefore promptly refer cases to the medical college. Medical Superintendent Dr Geeta Kakodkar agreed that the number of patients referred to GMC has reduced. She also said that referrals were done only in very serious cases and not as per the common perception. “Patients are transferred to the GMC only as per seriousness of cases. If there is requirement of tertiary medical treatment or a total ICU set up, we refer such patients to the GMC,” Dr Kakodkar said. Incidentally, figures on the number of trips the ambulances (Asilo and 108) made to GMC and the patient referrals did not correlate. In March, the number of ambulance trips to GMC was 186 while the referred patients were 312. Similarly in January, the number of ambulance trips were just 148, even as referral cases where as high as 365. According to Dr Kakodkar, there was nothing wrong with the figures and the numbers don’t matchup simply because sometimes two patients are referred in one ambulance. It appears the North Goa District Hospital has turned out to be a favourite ground for pregnant women, with as many as 193 deliveries conducted in March. Of this, 134 were normal deliveries while 59 caesarian cases. One case each of birth of twin babies was reported in March and February. One still born case was reported in March. A total of 179 and 170 deliveries were conducted in January and February respectively. Asilo also boasts of conducting 237 surgical operations in March while it was 418 in February and 270 in January.
