‘Private hospitals need effective grievance redressal cells’

The much-awaited public hearing of the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) concluded on Thursday but many complainants of medical negligence cases had to go back home empty-handed after the body refused to hear cases against private hospitals. However, during the two days of hearing, the commission also highlighted several lapses in the health services and raised the need for effective grievance redressal cells (GRC) at private hospitals.
The commission will submit its suggestions to the Medical Council of India (MCI) and its state bodies with the observation made during the hearings. Though the official website of NHRC stated that the body would hear cases against public and private health services, the latter was refused on Wednesday.

Guj IMA objects to portrayal of pvt docs in NCERT textbook

IMA asks Gujarat chapter to participate in fight against NCERT over derogatory description of docs in Class VII SS textbook

Taking forward the fight against discrimination of private doc tors in the syllabus of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), Indian Medical Association (IMA) has sent a notice to Gujarat branch of IMA to join in.

A comic strip published on pages 22-23 of Class 7 social sciences textbook by NCERT shows private doctors as fleecing patients. The private doctor is shown as prescribing many medicines, while a government doctor just hands out a pill for a viral infection. The private doctor's bill is Rs 3,500, while the government doctor charges Rs 150.

A portion of chapter 2 on `Role of Government in health' says, “In order to earn more money, these private services encourage practices that are incorrect. At times cheaper methods, though available, are not used. For example, it is common to find doctors prescribing unnecessary medicines, injections or saline bottles when tablets or simple medicines can suffice.“

IMA has demanded that the chapter should either be deleted or re-written. “All branches of IMA across the country will join hands to fulfill the demand. We will conduct a meeting and organise a press conference to make people aware of the issue,“ said Dr Chetan Patel, president of Gujarat IMA.

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.