Kerala to roll out Night-time Postmortem Services at Government Medical Colleges
Thrissur: The Kerala government has
unveiled plans to introduce night-time post-mortem services in its government
medical colleges to enhance the efficiency of forensic services
across the state.
The initiative, outlined
in a recent directive from the Director of Health Education, aims to ensure
timely autopsies, potentially reducing delays and improving overall
service availability.
Post-mortems provide
useful information about how, when and why someone died. They enable
pathologists to obtain a better understanding of how diseases spread. Learning
more about illnesses and medical conditions benefits patients too, because it
means they’ll receive more effective treatment in the future, reports Mathrubhumi.
The directive instructs
the principals of government medical colleges to commence night-time
post-mortems utilizing their current facilities. The medical colleges have been
asked to provide updates on the steps they are taking toward implementation,
including the staffing needs that would be required for the successful rollout.
However, one significant
obstacle stands in the way of this plan- a shortage of forensic surgeons.
Currently, the state faces a deficit of 16 surgeons, making it challenging
to launch the night-time post-mortem service as envisioned. Addressing this shortage
will be crucial for successfully executing the new schedule and ensuring
that the night-time services are fully operational. The government is
expected to take steps to fill these vacancies to ensure the availability of
surgeons for the night shifts, reports the Daily.
Kerala government has
been adopting new techniques to enhance the health service sector. Taking
action against absentee assistant professors and lecturers from various medical
and pharmacy college hospitals, the Kerala health department has issued
show-cause notices to 56 doctors for being on unauthorized absence for a period
of 1- 7 years including one with the longest period of absence on the list- 15
years.
The department directed
all the 56 professors on the list to appear and report for duty before the
Additional Chief Secretary (Health) at the secretariat within 15 days. Failure
to comply will lead to termination without further notice as per relevant provisions
of the Constitution of India, Kerala civil services rules and Kerala service
rules.
