Latest news with #PMSSY
Time of India
5 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
SRN hosp to install advance machine for cancer treatment
Prayagraj: Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital, under the Prime Minister's Health Protection Scheme (PMSSY), is set to install an HDR Brachytherapy machine for cancer treatment in the coming months. The project, initially proposed in 2016 as part of a Super Speciality Block, was temporarily shelved due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which redirected all available resources and infrastructure. According to the media in charge of SRN, Dr Santosh Kumar Singh, the medical college will soon procure the machine because the most crucial component—an underground shielded bunker required for its installation—has not been constructed. The layout is now ready, and work on the radiation-safe bunker has been initiated following communication with the state govt. Detailing what Brachytherapy is, Dr Singh said, "Brachytherapy is a highly focused type of internal radiation therapy used for cancers like cervical, prostate, breast and skin cancers. It involves placing a radioactive source directly inside or next to the tumour, thereby delivering a high dose of radiation to the cancer with minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissues." Unlike external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), brachytherapy ensures that the rest of the body is exposed to very little radiation, making it an effective and safe treatment modality. According to experts, "This form of radiation therapy is extremely useful for localised tumours, and once the machine is installed, it will benefit cancer patients across the region." Initially, in 2016, plans were approved to install this machine under PMSSY. By 2019, the Super Speciality Block was completed, but in 2020, during the peak of COVID-19, the building was repurposed into a dedicated COVID ward, postponing all other medical projects. "As of 2025, groundwork for bunker construction has restarted, and layout approvals are in place. Soon we will procure the machine, and the patients here at SRN will be able to get the state-of-the-art facility," said Dr Santosh, who is also the Associate Professor at MLN Medical College.
The Hindu
12-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
HLL-HITES preparing report on safety aspects of PMSSY block of Kozhikode MCH
HLL Infratech Services Ltd. (HLL-HITES), a public sector company that functioned as the consultant for the construction of the Surgical Super-speciality, Accident and Emergency Care Block of the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, is learnt to be preparing a report on the building's safety aspects. This comes in the wake of allegations regarding perceived lapses in construction, following two recent incidents involving suspected electrical failures on May 2 and May 5. A senior HLL-HITES official in Thiruvananthapuram told The Hindu on Monday (May 12) that the report's contents would be shared with the college principal and the district administration. A group of officials from the company had visited the hospital campus last week and held discussions with the authorities. The funds for the construction of the building were allocated under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). A private company in Kottayam took up the works for HLL-HITES. The Union government spent ₹120 crore, while the State government contributed ₹75.93 crore for the seven-storey building, which was opened on March 4, 2023. There had been allegations that, although the structure was planned to include a Building Management System (BMS) connecting all safety instruments to a common server, it had not yet been made functional. It was pointed out that only the CCTV cameras were connected to the server. Allegedly, if the system had been fully operational, even minor security lapses could have been detected. Reports also suggested that the electrical wing of the Public Works department and the biomedical engineering wing under the Directorate of Medical Education had highlighted lapses in electrical wiring, construction faults, and issues with some of the installed equipment. However, the contractors reportedly stuck to their original plans. Water leakage was reported on one of the floors, and a false ceiling had collapsed once before the building's inauguration. The electrical wing of the PWD may not be in a position to make any alterations to the wiring system, as it is entirely concealed. Meanwhile, the HLL-HITES official dismissed the allegations. He claimed that the building had received all necessary approvals and a no-objection certificate from the authorities. He also added that the BMS was functioning during the two recent incidents, and the water sprinklers connected to it had activated on time.
The Hindu
10-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Staff shortage, delay in creating new posts plague Kozhikode MCH
Two back-to-back fire-and-smoke breakouts at a recently built block of the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, have also brought to light the staff shortage and the delay in creating new posts plaguing the premier healthcare institution that caters to the medical needs of patients from at least five districts in north Kerala. As many as 151 patients had to be evacuated and shifted elsewhere after smoke billowed out of the UPS battery room attached to the MRI scanning unit on the ground floor of the new building, constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), on the night of May 2. Just three days later, scores of patients who were brought back to the building from other wards in the hospital had to be evacuated again when another fire broke out in an operating theatre on its sixth floor. According to a section of medical staff at the hospital, these incidents are also a result of not focussing on the creation of new posts in the new block. They claim that a similar situation is prevailing in the super-speciality block and the Tertiary Cancer Care Centre and Research Institute as well. Along with this, there is a crisis related to staff shortage across various blocks in the hospital. Sources say that there are 393 posts of doctors, of which 61 are vacant. There are 279 posts of assistant professors, of which 53 are vacant. Eight of the 61 posts of associate professors are vacant. Of the 53 posts of professors, three are vacant. The nurses-patient ratio, which should have been 1:4 ideally, is reportedly 1:50 now. The hospital is still following the staff pattern developed in the 60s, though the patient load has increased manifold over the years. In a letter to the Director of Medical Education in 2017, the then principal of the medical college had sought the creation of nine posts of professors, 18 associate professors, 35 assistant professors, and 37 senior resident doctors at the PMSSY block. Last December, the hospital authorities again sought the creation of new posts in the building, which was opened in 2023. At the tertiary cancer care centre, one post each of associate professor in radiotherapy and radiation physics, and two posts of assistant professors were proposed. One post of head nurse, eight posts of staff nurse, and four posts of nursing assistants were sought to be created, along with those of paramedical staff. Sajith Cherandathur, Kozhikode district president of the Kerala Government Nurses' Union (KGNU), says that the super-speciality block, opened in 1996, requires around 200-250 posts of nurses, none of which have been created so far. Meanwhile, the government proposed to create 150 new posts at the PMSSY block after the recent incidents. The KGNU functionaries point out that the shortage is now being addressed through either rearrangement of staff or by appointing temporary workers under the hospital development society. They demanded that, instead of this, the government appoint permanent staff through the Kerala Public Service Commission.
Time of India
05-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Three days later, another fire at Kozhikode medical college hospital
Kozhikode: A fire broke out inside an operation theatre on the sixth floor of Kozhikode Medical College's super specialty emergency block at 2:15pm on Monday, just three days after a UPS battery explosion caused a fire in the same building. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now This forced authorities to move patients from the third and fourth floors, many of whom had only just returned after the earlier incident. The incident has sparked allegations of safety lapses and violations of hospital protocols for readmitting patients before completing safety checks after Friday's fire. At present, the electrical inspectorate department is inspecting the building. Monday afternoon's fire originated from operation theatre-15 which has not been commissioned. Sources said a short circuit in the pendant in the operation theatre may have triggered the fire while checks were being conducted. Though the staff managed to douse the flames using fire extinguishers, smoke billowed out immediately, following which Vellimadukunnu fire station personnel arrived and brought the situation under control. On Friday, a battery in the UPS room of the emergency department on the ground floor had exploded, filling the building with smoke and forcing evacuation of almost 200 patients. Medical college authorities had started readmitting patients to the third and fourth floors of the block on Monday. Medical college principal K G Sajeeth Kumar said they started readmitting patients to the two floors after receiving approval from the electrical engineers who had checked these floors. Though Kumar said there was no fire in the OT room, fire and rescue services personnel said there was a fire and it damaged equipment and bed. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The official said that the sprinkler in the room had been activated. Kumar said that less than 25 patients were moved back to wards in the super speciality block as other blocks were overcrowded with patients, some of them lying on the floor. On hearing the fire alarm, patients on the third and fourth floors panicked and they were evacuated to other wards through the skywalk. The back-to-back fire incidents at the medical college sparked protests by opposition political parties who alleged safety lapses and accused authorities of hiding information and not allowing people's representatives and media inside the building. Kozhikode MP M K Raghavan said two mishaps in the same building within a span of three days were serious and added that he would write to the PM and the CM seeking a comprehensive probe. He said it must cover all aspects and ascertain whether there were lapses while constructing the building under central govt-sponsored PMSSY programme at a cost of Rs 200 crore. Following Friday's fire, four patients who were on ventilators or receiving oxygen support had died. But a preliminary postmortem report found that none of them had died due to inhalation of smoke. However, a five-member medical team is probing whether the patients were under distress during Friday's incident.
