Chandigarh administration sets up committee to control overcrowding at PGIMER

The committee is expected to design a protocol and prepare a system so that overcrowding at the institute can be controlled.

The UT administration has formed a committee under the director of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) to suggest guidelines for inter and intra state referral system among hospitals.

The committee will also recommend how Chandigarh can be developed to emerge as an ideal medical hub for the northern region. (HT FILE)

UT health secretary Arun Kumar Gupta said so far there was no policy document laying down the categories of patients that should be referred from primary or secondary hospitals within Chandigarh and from the neighbouring states to PGIMER.

The committee is expected to design a protocol and prepare a system so that overcrowding at the institute can be controlled. Health representatives from the nearby states will also be a part of this committee.

UT spokesperson in a press release said that a committee with representatives from Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, and Government Multispecialty Hospital, Sector 16, has been approved by the UT administrator to formulate a protocol to ensure that there is no overcrowding or congestion of patients.

The committee will also recommend how Chandigarh can be developed to emerge as an ideal medical hub for the northern region.

Earlier, PGIMER had said that despite repeated requests, non-serious cases were still coming in from neighbouring states, including some infected with Covid-19. The UT adviser was then asked to take up the matter with other states, so that patients who could be locally treated needn’t be referred to PGIMER.