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Bhubaneswar, August 28: Gross mismanagement of the three state-run medical colleges in the state was highlighted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its General and Social Sector Audit that was presented in the Assembly by finance minister Pradip Amat Friday.
The report of the 2009-14 period comes on the heels of widespread public outrage at the sharp rise in fatalities at the Sishu Bhawan in Cuttack, with allegations of medical negligence being leveled against the institute.
As per the CAG audit, evaluation of the government medical colleges and hospitals (GMCHs) was not conducted during 2009-14, as required under the Orissa State Integrated Health Policy.
The three medical colleges are VSS Medical College in Burla, MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur and SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
Medical research has been severely hit as a result of a drastic shortage of infrastructure and high-end equipment, the CAG said, while noting that a dearth of manpower has also taken a toll on patient care.
“Teaching as well as patient care was affected at these GMCHs due to shortage of required teaching, non-teaching and paramedical staff below the posts sanctioned by the state government,” the CAG said.
“Availability of beds in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) remained as low as two per cent of total bed strength with no ICU in casualty departments, thus depriving serious patients of specialised emergency care,” the CAG noted, pointing out that the medical colleges did not have the required number of beds at the ICU units to accommodate patients.
The CAG also observed in its five-year report that trauma care units costing Rs 3.54 crore at the MKCG and VSS Hospital remained non-functional, “resulting in deficient emergency care for accident victims”.
“Diagnostic facilities like investigation in immune-pathology and Digital X-ray were not available at any of the three GMCHs, compelling patients to go to private clinics and laboratories,” CAG said. “Equipment like High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography machine and Mammography machine required for measurement of drug concentration, detection of breast cancer etc. purchased at a cost of Rs 3.84 crore between January 2006 and March 2014 remained unutilised,” the CAG said.
The auditor criticised the government for not acting with urgency to enhance quality and efficiency of medical care at the three GMCHs despite an increase in casualties. Medicines that were “not of standard quality” and reportedly past the expiry date were given to inpatients at the three GMCHs, the CAG noted, adding supply of medicines was inadequate.