Shailaja claims settling MDT Board row in RCC

Thiruvananthapuram: Health minister K K Shailaja said that issues related to the introduction of Multi-Disciplinary Tumour Board in RCC had been sorted out.

“Radiation oncologists had felt that they were being sidelined. But we had called a meeting of doctors, assuaged their fears, and made an amendment to the original order to include their suggestions,” the health minister said in response to a submission made by CPM veteran V S Achuthanandan in the Assembly on Wednesday.

Mr Achuthanandan, while making the submission, said that Multi-Disciplinary Tumour Board would adversely affect the treatment process in RCC. He charged that health secretary Rajeev Sadanandan had taken the decision arbitrarily. The minister countered this, saying the decision was taken jointly, after a series of discussions with doctors.

Under the new system, all patients registered at RCC would be evaluated simultaneously evaluated by a team of surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists, and the treatment decision will be taken by the MDTB after joint consultations. Before MDTB was set up, radiation oncologists alone attended to the patients and decided upon the treatment plan; surgical and medical oncologists were generally kept out. “It is not as if discussions did not take place under the old system. There were, but the arrangement was not institutionalised,” the minister said. A core committee has also been formed to act as a sort of appellate authority if at all any treatment-related issues cropped up.

The health minister said that the Board system was the global norm. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Tata Memorial Hospital, and Malabar Cancer Centre follow the Board system. Achuthanandan also hinted that the move was to help insurance companies. The minister, however, did not respond to the charge.