The act of Shiv Sena MP Hemant Patil asking the Dean of Nanded hospital to clean the toilet with a broom has evoked sharp reactions from the medicos. Most of the doctors are asking, if politicians keep interfering in such a nasty way then who would like to become Dean of any Government hospital? A wave of anger in the medical fraternity swept through the Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMCH), Nagpur as senior doctors showed reluctance to take the charge as Dean. Finally, Dr Makrand Vyawahare, fourth in the list of seniority, was made Dean of IGGMCH. Maharashtra State Medical Teachers’ Association (MSMTA) has condemned the Sena MP’s interference, although it did not issue any official statement.

 

On the issue of political vandalism, the association is likely to meet either Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif or Principal Secretary Dinesh Waghmare soon. The Government has registered First Information Report against Patil, but it is not enough, say doctors. Expressing their ire, they told ‘The Hitavada’, “We served the masses during coronavirus pandemic, still doctors and Deans were blamed by politicians and administration. Then, doctors were at the receiving end daily from the politicians, administration whose role in the health care was meager. The act of Sena MP is intolerable as a Dean cannot be held responsible for deaths at a hospital. ”

 

Most Professors and Heads of the Departments, who on being senior, are holding the charge as Dean have expressed their unwillingness to head the institution. According to sources, Maharashtra’s Chief Secretary Manoj Sounik has come in support of Government hospitals. He has presented the statistics of monthly deaths in Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital, Nanded, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Nagpur’s GMCH and IGGMCH. According to Sounik, average deaths in government hospital Nanded is 13, Sambhajinagar 14 and, GMCH-IGGMCH combined 17. Most of the patients visiting government hospital are in critical condition or are referred by private hospitals. Also, during holidays, citizens prefer Government hospitals over private ones for healthcare.