Mixed impact on medical colleges in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHPAURAM: The strike by health services doctors has had a mixed impact on government medical college hospitals across the state.

Thiruvananthapuram Medical College superintendent Dr K Mohandass claimed that there was no fluctuation in the average footfall in all OP wings throughout the week.

On an average, around 3600 patients come to the medical college outpatient wing daily.

Even private hospitals in Thiruvananthpuram did not see a heavy rush. “There was a slight rush on Friday at the OP but it is very normal.  OP sections see very few people on second Saturday and Sundays,” said Dr M S Thiruvairan, the Executive Medical Director of PRS hospital.

However, the situation was totally different in the Kozhikode Medical College where the casualty wing was overburdened following the strike.

Even patients from PHCs, CHCs, taluk hospitals and Government General Hospitals have been diverted to the medical college.

“There is a heavy rush. But an increase of about 500 patients can be easily handled,” Dr. Sreejayan, superintendent of Kozhikode Medical College told DC.

Contrary to the claims of the KGMOA about normal casualty services, several accident cases are being rushed to the medical college.

“The daughter of my niece and her friend were knocked down by a speeding bike at the pedestrian crossing near R K Mission School in Meenchanda on Monday. They could not get treatment at the general hospital and were taken to the private hospital. They had broken limbs and were treated at the private hospital,” K Sreenivasan, a local resident said.

“We are getting more cases in our casualty due to the strike. On an average our casualty gets about 550 to 600 patients every day. This number has gone up considerably high and we take a patient census only by midnight,” the PRO on duty at the Medical College casualty said.

Kottayam medical college, however, did not witness any significant rush. According to medical records, the number of OP patients reduced to 1430 on Friday (September 11) from above 1600 on the preceding Thursday.

“The patients mistook the KGMOA strike as being a strike by doctors of the medical college. As a result, the flow of patients reduced,” medical college hospital superintendent, Dr Tiji Thomas Jacob told DC.  However, the patient rush came back to normal on Monday.