New corpus fund to finance treatment of resident doctors
Maharashtra government would shortly set up a corpus fund to finance the treatment of resident doctors who suffer from various ailments.
The state government would shortly set up a corpus fund to finance the treatment of resident doctors who suffer from various ailments.
The decision was taken because of the death of an intern at Sion Hospital, Dr Samidha Khandare, who succumbed to multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MRD-TB) in June.
Addressing the members of the legislative council, minister of medical education Vijaykumar Gavit said the state would ensure good treatment to resident doctors.
“We wanted to insure doctors but insurance companies did not show much interest. Hence the state will set up a Corpus Fund to treat doctors,” said Gavit.
Dr Khandare was suffering from TB, which her colleagues attributed to long working hours and dismal living conditions.
The issue was raised by Congress legislator Alka Desai, who expressed dismay at the overall working conditions of the doctors.
“Doctors are overworked and the living quarters are a mess. They are treated in a shabby manner,” said Desai.
Gavit also promised that he would ensure that there is an inspection of doctors’ quarters
Akola resident Samidha Khandare, 24, was suffering from multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)Khandare, who finished her MBBS from Lokmanya Tilak Medical College, was interning at Sion Hospital when she contracted the disease.
She was undergoing treatment at Sion hospital, but was later shifted to PD Hinduja hospital, where she succumbed on June 30
According to Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors, resident doctors are more susceptible to TB because of long work hours and unhygienic living condition at least once a month.
Deputy chairman of the legislative council Vasant Dawkhare directed the minister to arrange a visit of legislators to the living quarters of doctors in both government and civic hospitals.
“This will ensure that council members get a firsthand experience of the whole situation,” said Dawkahre.
In recent years, resident doctors have been facing a host of problems such as security issues, long working hours and substandard living conditions.