Madhya Pradesh: Medical Colleges still being run based on Archaic Manual

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh teaching hospitals attached to Government teaching colleges are run based on the provisions laid out by a medical manual prepared way back in 1927. A recent report in HT points out no update of this archaic document has been done, despite increase in the number of hospitals in the state and the population . A draft copy of a new medical manual lies gathering dust in the Medical Education Department. Prepared by a retired IAS officer, DS Rai, five years ago, at the behest of the Chief Minister, Shivraj Chouhan, why the revised manual hasn't seen the light of day is anybody's guess. The Madhya Pradesh state has carved itself out of the 'Central Provinces and Berar' since 1957, however, the teaching hospitals of the state continue to follow the provisions laid down by the " The Central Provinces and Berar Medical Manual".

"The medical manual in place was introduced when there was only one medical school in the entire province and the population was much lower. Now, the state has six government medical colleges and several private ones, while the population has swelled to 7.25 crore," said DS Rai, the writer of the revised draft, in a conversation with the HT.

Chief Minister, Shivraj Chouhan during a visit to the Gandhi Medical College (GMC), Bhopal in 2010, had instructed the Medical Education Department officials, to prepare a fresh manual to improve the state of teaching hospitals of the Government Medical Colleges, in the state. The then Dean of the Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal, Dr Nirbhay Shrivastava, was assigned the task. Mr. Shrivastava passed on the job to Mr. DS Rai, who prepared a 625 page document in consultation with stakeholders and his own exhaustive experience in the field ,over a period of a year and a half. The draft was submitted to Dr Shrivastava, who handed over the document to the Medical Education Department.

"The most significant part of the ' new medical manual' was that the responsibility of the authorities was well defined, leaving no room for any confusion or conflict. Hence, nobody could have escaped from his responsibility on any ground," Rai said.

"The manual also defined duty of each and every person in the hospital, from the ward boy to the doctors — what should be the protocol, right from the time a patient is admitted to the hospital to when he is discharged — the duty of each and everybody was well defined. I don't know what happened after I submitted the draft," he added.

In a conversation with the HT, Dr Nirbhay Shrivastava said, "The new manual was badly required. People will be surprised to know that even the head of departments in medical colleges have no authority in the functioning of the teaching hospital — it is the superintendent and dean around whom the entire functioning of the hospitals revolves. For instance, if any ward is not clean or the ward boy or any hospital staff don't perform their duty properly, the HoD has no authority to take any punitive action."

Mr. GS Patel, Director Medical Education, has confirmed the existence of the manual, however, he said he wasn't in a position to comment on its status. He however, added that he would look into the matter.

In a recent surprise inspection by the State Chief Minister , Shivraj Chouhan, gross irregularities surfaced in the functioning of Hamidia hospital — the teaching hospital of GMC. The result of the inspection has led to immediate transfers of Additional Chief Secretary (Medical Education) Prabhanshu Kamal and Dean, Ulka Shrivastava.

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