Better health services: Med colleges assigned to supervise district hosps

Kolkata: In order to ensure proper hospital administration and better health services in district-level hospitals, various medical colleges have been assigned to supervise the district hospitals. The main purpose of the move is to ensure that the patients avail top-class treatment in district hospitals and over dependency of these hospitals on medical colleges is reduced. In a significant development, G K Dhali, head of department (HoD) of Gastroenterology at IPGMER & SSKM Hospital, has been assigned a new role. He will now also act as officer on special duty (OSD) to supervise various hospitals. The state government has added many new medical colleges in the peripheral areas other than Kolkata.

“Dhali has been assigned to act as OSD to supervise the functionality of hospitals which were attached to government medical colleges in the state, in addition to his normal duties at SSKM. All the concerned principals of medical colleges are requested to provide him every assistance as and when required,” read an order issued by the health department.

According to sources, the teaching colleges will serve as hubs for districts in case a patient needs higher care. Four teaching medical colleges will cater to patients from Kolkata, apart from patients from districts that are its spokes.

IPGMER will be the hub for East Midnapore, Medical College Hospital will serve as the hub for Howrah and Hooghly, RG Kar Medical College will cater to North 24-Parganas, and NRS Medical College will cater to Nadia, Murshidabad and Jhargram districts.

In a bid to ensure cancer detection and treatment across the state, the health department has decided to introduce a similar hub-and-spoke model, under which outdoor and indoor treatment facilities for cancer would be available in various state-run medical colleges and district hospitals.

The medical colleges providing cancer treatment will act as hubs while district hospitals will be tagged with them. The districts will extend services to the patients like ‘spokes’ connected to ‘hubs’.