Swine Flu Testing - New labs fail to match WHO biosafety levels

In a bid to step up its battle against swine flu, the state government ordered the construction of three new testing laboratories but neither of the labs meet international safety precautions. As per WHO, laboratories that culture influenza A (H1N1) viruses should have biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) -but none of the testing laboratories in the state register more than level 2 in biosafety. Moreover, two of these laboratories do not have the equipment that helps diagnose the virus strain.

This year, 122 people have succumbed to swine flu while 2,000 are currently being monitored. Taking into the consideration the increasing number of swine flu cases and with Kutch and Jamnagar recording 25 per cent of the total number of swine flu cases, the state health department, in February, announced construction of three laboratories in Kutch, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar. Each lab was to be built at the cost of Rs 25 lakh each.However, none of the labs measure up to biosafety level 3 (BSL-3).

Civil Hospital, You’re Disgustingly Filthy

Every year same story: two resident docs down with dengue...BJ Medical College students arefurious with Civil Hospital authorities who keep proving year after year thatthey are incapable of maintaining hygiene on campus

Time and again, Civil Hospital authorities have been pulled up for not maintaining cleanliness on its premises, especially during monsoon. But it seems to make no difference. The hospital’s apathy towards providing a clean environment to its patients and doctors is evident from the most recent cases where two students of BJ Medical College Hostel were diagnosed with dengue. In the past, too, doctors at Civil have fallen victim to the aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the vector transmitting dengue.   

Rs 95L microscope kept locked at Civil

The Cryo Em, an electron microscopeworth Rs 95 lakh that can study Ebola and other highly pathogenic viruses, isgathering dust in a locked laboratory

The most advanced electron microscope that can study Ebola and mutated viruses has been put under lock and key at the E-1 ward on the ground floor of Civil Hospital.

Body blow

While more and more Amdavadis aredonating their bodies for advancement of science, medical colleges refuse toaccept them citing lack of facility to preserve bodies or reluctance to workafter office hours

While medical colleges across the country are struggling to meet shortage of cadavers, city colleges are turning away donors' bodies. Lack of infrastructure to preserve the bodies is the reason that colleges like NHL and Sola give while refusing to accept the donations. LG and BJ medical colleges accept bodies, provided it is brought during office hours.

Ushmaben Shah, a 79-year-old cancer patient who breathed her last on May 22, 2015, wanted to donate her body to benefit medical students.But this noble approach hit a roadblock when medical colleges refused to take her body citing several excuses.

At BJ, saftey is a PJ

Ticker leading to the headline: Last October, twoKashmiri youths were detained for illegal stay at BJ Medical College hostel.You would like to think it was a wake up call for authorities. Nope. The newhostel blocks are even more unsafe

*The new hostel is located in a slum area, 4 km from the college

* Anybody can get in since guards do not check ID cards.
*A month ago, local goons barged into the hostel with weapons and threatened students

* Cellphone worth Rs 40,000 stolen from hostel room

Authorities of BJ Medical College have still not learnt their lesson. After a fire broke out in the one of their hostel rooms last October, police had detained two Kashmiri youths who were found to be staying illegally in a room allotted to an undergraduate doctor.

IF ONLY THEY BUILT A SKIN BANK - 80 PER CENT OF BURNS VICTIMS COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED AT CIVIL

 Civil Hospital and BJMedical College fail to build a skin bank though they signed an MoU with aEuropean firm during the 2011 Vibrant summit; this despite that fact that abouthalf of the burns patients die following infection due to lack of skintransplant
One patient dies in the burns department of Civil Hospital almost every day. Nearly 80 per cent of these people can be saved if they received skin transplant in time. But Civil Hospital and BJ Medical College, have failed to set up a skin bank despite signing a memorandum of understanding with Euro Skin Bank in 2011, two Vibrant summits ago.

Medicos' mantra to avoid rural areas - will pay, won't serve

Around 76 per cent of BJ Medical studentsopted to pay bond money so that they can skip serving in rural hospitals for ayear after completing MBBS; their number has gone up to 900 in four years

Already lagging behind many states on human development index, medical graduates' refusal to serve in rural areas despite signing bond only drags the state. The state's largest medical college, BJ, which was expected to show the way has proved to be a big defaulter on this front: three out of four students refused to serve the mandatory stint in rural hospitals last year.

The trend has been dismal with almost 900 students washing their hands off from the duty to serve the needy patients in rural areas since 2010.

Transfers cripple BJ Medical College

Govt transferred 125 doctors to otherdistricts just before annual MCI inspection; this has led to a massive manpowercrunch at the college

The recent transfer of 125 doctors in two batches has left several departments at Civil Hospital struggling to attend to patients.

The sudden shuffling came just before the annual inspection of Medical Council of India (MCI) but it is BJ Medical College which has to feel the pinch. Departments like paediatric, gynaecology, surgery, medicine and orthopaedic are left with just about half the staff required to function at optimum level.

The health department had transferred 45 doctors in October and on November 25, another branch of 80 doctors were shifted to newly started medical colleges in Patan, Himmatnagar, Valsad and Gotri.

Civil is serviced by BJ Medical College professors. In paediatric department, all senior professors along with the head of the department have been transferred. According to the transfer circular, a copy of which is with Mirror, six staff members have been shifted.

“A department has a head followed by associate professors. But now, as we all have been transferred, this department has become an orphan. There is no one to take adequate action in case of any serious development,“ said a doctor from the department.

INADEQUATE STAFF RATIO

According to MCI guidelines, all medical colleges are supposed to maintain adequate staff-student ratio. But as the newly formed colleges lack in staff, doctors are transferred from BJ Medical College, claims doctors.“They think that this college is the hub of doctors, so anytime they can transfer doctors to fulfil requirements of other hospitals. But what about this hospital?“ asked a doctor from surgical department where 50 per cent of the staff have been removed.Previously, the state government used to transfer staff to colleges where in spection was to take place. After the inspection, they were sent back to their parent institutes. But this time, according to transfer order, these staffers will not be transferred back until the vacancies are filled. This order has already started giving them nightmares.

Even those senior doctors who are to retire in two to three years have been transferred to rural areas which is against government policy.

BENEFITS AFFECTED

Transferred staff members are also upset because their years of service will not be counted as they will be serving at GMERS hospitals. “All the doctors who are shifted are highly qualified and have years of experience. But as now they are shifted to trust hospitals, these years of their service will not be counted while calculating their retirement benefits,“ said a doctor who will retire in 2016.As Mirror pointed out on November 27 (`Health dept acts, only selectively'), in the name of punishment transfer only seven doctors who were practising in both government and private hospitals had been transferred out.

DOCS' CONSENT NOT TAKEN

The transfer circular states that the doctors wanted the transfer and they were shifter after consultation with them. But when Mirror spoke to some of the doctors, they denied giving their consent or being consulted and said the circular was giving out wrong information.

“We have students here and have been practising here for years. So, why would we want to shift to any remote college where there is no facility?“ asked a doctor who has been transferred.

HEALTH MINISTER PAYS SURPRISE VISIT TO CIVIL

Health Minister Nitin Patel sent authorities at Civil Hospital in to a tizzy on Thursday night when he decided to conduct a surprise check. Patel, who had gone to meet an acquaintance at UN Mehta Heart Hospital, went straight to Civil Hospital's trauma centre from there, sources said. Besides checking hospital's registers, he visited the blood bank, MRI centre and spoke to the staff. Two cops stationed at the trauma centre complained to the minister about overflowing drainage line at the hospital, sources said. “They told the minister that they had been putting up with the issue of overflowing drainage line for three months. Despite complaining to their higher-ups there was no respite from the problems as the place had not been cleaned up even once, they said. They also told Patel that the stagnant water was a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The minister assured them that the premises will be cleaned up at the earliest and directed the authorities to ensure clean surroundings,” said sources.

Earlier Patel had ordered a probe into the theft of injections from Civil after the expensive injections were found at a private medical store.

Nepotism strikes TB project

The Indian Medical Association projectthat is meant for private hospitals for better implementation of TB programmegets limited to government Civil Hospital and BJ Medical College leavingclassrooms without teachers in the afternoon

Rupali Sharma (name changed), a student of microbiology, and her classmates were hanging out with other students at the canteen of BJ Medical College in the afternoon when she should have been in the classroom. Reason: Their professors were attending a workshop on TB organised by Ahmedabad Medical Association (AMA). The workshop, incidentally, was supposed to be organised at private hospitals.