A LETTER demanding improvement in work conditions at the Government Cancer Hospital was written by the Cancer Society of Madhya Pradesh to the Divisional Commissioner and Chairman of the medical college and associated hospitals executive committee Ashok Das recently.
The letter issued on January 12 was written at the culmination of the executive and general body meeting of the society held on December 12. While, discussing the working of the hospital many members were aggrieved to find a rise in the number of complaints ever since the high dose rate Brachytherapy machine was installed at a cost of Rs 1.25 crore.
It was alleged that in certain cases, patients were being pressurized to shell out extra money for being treated on this unit and those not willing to pay were being deprived of timely treatment through delaying tactics. The patients were made
to wait for long hours and at times the procedure was postponed without giving valid reasons.
The functionaries were also upset by the recent case of theft of medical case sheets and files by Class-IV employees after which the police registered a case against one Gurucharan, who was later sacked by Dean Dr VK Saini.
The records, of vital importance during treatment, especially in case of patients suffering from critical illnesses like cancer in which dosage and medication had to be consulted time and again, were sold by some Class-IV employees who were habitual drinkers. They sold the records as the X-ray films have miniscule amount of silver and they got some money for it
Cases of indiscipline and insubordination by some Class-IV employees had also been reported.
The records, of vital importance during treatment, especially in case of patients suffering from critical illnesses like cancer in which dosage and medication had to be consulted time and again, were sold by some Class-IV employees who were habitual drinkers. They sold the records as the X-ray films have miniscule amount of silver and they got some money for it
Cases of indiscipline and insubordination by some Class-IV employees had also been reported.
Discussing the matter in the meeting with present superintendent it was decided to seek remedial measures at the earliest putting an end to such malpractices and elicit official support from the Government.
Society secretary Dilip Kumar Acharya said that though there were many positives about the hospital it’s working was not absolutely clean and free from doubts. The society was taking interest in the functioning of the hospital ever since its inception and kept giving suggestions from time to time in order to bring abut a greater transparency and efficiency in its working.
However, as the Government managed the hospital the committee had no say in its day-to-day affairs and acted only as a recommendatory body and not as a regulatory authority. Society Chairman Dr MS Gujral said that sweeping things under the carpet was no solution to any problem and punishment and reward should go hand in hand.
Commissioner Das said that corrective steps would be taken and he had already forwarded the matter to Dr Saini for further action.