Hospicio’s mortuary down and out. The photo of Hospicio hospital.
MARGAO
Will the Deputy Chief Minister, Francis D’Souza, who also holds the Health portfolio, step in to stop the rot by putting a system in place and ensure that the dead -- brought at the ailing Hospicio for preservation and post mortem examination -- rest in peace?
D’Souza has promised to seek a detailed report from the Hospicio authorities on Saturday’s episode, but the fact remains that for the second time in less than a week that Hospicio’s system pertaining to the mortuary and autopsies faltered and crumbled, leaving no option to relatives of the dead and the police to ferry the bodies to the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim, for preservation and autopsies.
Inquiries by The Goan have revealed that the existing system at the government hospital went haywire after the medico-legal surgeon Dr Avinash Poojary proceeded on leave. The second-in-command at the mortuary has been found wanting since then, throwing the entire system haywire.
That’s not all. An order issued by the Hospicio authorities to the morgue attendants to attend to the maintenance work at the mortuary housed at the TB Sanatorium has also contributed to the confusion and chaos at the hospital, with sources in the know saying the morgue attendants are not ordinarily available at the Hospicio because of their posting atop the TB hospital.
When The Goan contacted Hospicio Medical Superintendent Dr Aira Almeida to shed light on the row surrounding the mortuary, the medico-legal surgeon and the morgue attendants, she said there’s a misconception that Hospicio attendants have been transferred to the TB mortuary. “They are not transferred to the TB mortuary, but are only posted there to look after the morgue maintenance since the mortuary unit at Hospicio is defunct and that all bodies are now stored only at the TB hospital mortuary," Dr Almeida asserted.
Sources, however, stated that the posting of the Hospicio’s morgue attendants at the TB hospital has not only added to the confusion, but has triggered a situation wherein the attendants are now required to be called every now and then from the TB hospital to assist the medico-legal surgeons at Hospicio.
What’s interesting to note is the fact that though the Hospicio mortuary has been lying defunct since the last several months, the government is yet to procure a new unit despite the fact that the number of unidentified and unclaimed bodies have increased manifold in recent months. Visits by the Health Minister, Francis D’Souza and GSIDC Vice Chairman Dr Pramod Sawant to the Hospicio have so far failed to change the ground reality.
Senior police officials admitted in private that the collapse of the mortuary system at Hospicio has caused several problems for the men-in-khaki and the relatives of the dead as well. “Most of the time, the mortuary at the TB hospital is full to the brim, forcing us to transport the bodies to the GMC, Bambolim, for preservation. Since the body comes from the South district, we have to again bring the body back to the Hospicio for post mortem examination," remarked a senior police officer, while suggesting that a spacious mortuary and adequate number of medico-legal surgeons should be put in place at Hospicio to tide over the situation.
Says Sanguem MLA Subhash Faldesai: “The government should immediately institute a probe why the second medico-legal surgeon does not carry out post mortem examinations in the absence of Dr Poojary. This only goes to show that the system has collapsed at this premier district hospital."
Salcete’s lone Minister, Avertano Furtado told The Goan that he would immediately find out from the Hospicio Medical Superintendent, Dr Almeida what went wrong at the mortuary on Saturday. “I fail to understand how the medico-legal surgeon could go missing or fall sick after signing on the muster roll. It would have been a different situation if there was no additional hand in the absence of Dr Poojary. This cannot be accepted since not just the dead, but their relatives and the police are put to great inconveniences if bodies are ferried to Bambolim," he said.
