Following the recent fire, the state government proposed to create 150 new positions in the PMSSY neighborhood of Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital. |Picture source: K. Ragesh
In a block recently built by the Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode, two back-to-back fire breakouts have also caused shortages of staff and delays in creating new positions, plaguing the medical needs of patients in at least five districts of North Kerala, a delay that has plagued the Prime Minister’s medical institutions.
After smoke is attached to the UPS battery chamber from the MRI scanning unit attached to the ground floor of the new building, up to 151 patients must be evacuated and transferred after the UPS battery chamber built on the ground floor of the new building. An outbreak occurred in an operating room on its sixth floor.
According to a portion of the hospital’s medical staff, these incidents are also the result of not focusing on creating new positions in the new neighborhood. They claim that super-special disorders, as well as tertiary cancer care centers and institutes, are also prevalent.
As a result, there is a crisis in the shortage of staff in various blocks of the hospital. Sources said there were 393 doctor positions, including 61 vacancies. Assistant professors have 279 positions, including 53 vacancies. Eight vacancies are available for the 61 positions of associate professor. There are three vacancies in the 53 positions of professor. It is reported that the nurse-patient ratio, which should be 1:4, is now 1:50. Despite the increased mobility of patient load over the years, hospitals are still following the staff model developed in the 1960s.
In a letter to the Director of Medical Education in 2017, the then-Chancellor of the Medical School sought to establish positions of nine professors, 18 associate professors, 35 assistant professors and 37 senior resident physicians at PMSSY Block. In December last year, hospital authorities once again sought to create new posts in the building that opened in 2023.
At the tertiary cancer care center, associate professors in radiotherapy and radio physics are proposed, and two assistant professor positions are proposed. Positions for one master nurse, eight employee nurse positions and four nursing assistant positions were created with auxiliary staff. Sajith Cherandathur, chairman of the Kozkikod Region of the Kerala Government Nurses Union (KGNU), said the super special barrier that opened in 1996 required about 200-250 nurse positions and has not been created so far.
Meanwhile, the government proposes to create 150 new positions in the PMSSY neighborhood after the recent incident. KGNU staff noted that the shortage is now being addressed through staff rescheduling or appointing temporary workers under the Hospital Development Association. They asked the government to appoint permanent staff through the Kerala Public Service Commission.
publishing – May 10, 2025 08:00 pm ist
