BMC extends trauma care docs’ tenure by two months, to review ambulance gaps

A fresh hiring process for doctors and medical staff would be started in January and the contracts would run till March 2027, said officials

Mumbai: Following reports in the Hindustan Times about shortage of specialised doctors at trauma care hospitals in the city and gaps in ambulance services in peripheral hospitals, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has given an extension to 18 specialised doctors at Cooper and Hindu Hruday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray (HBT) trauma care hospitals and decided to review the lack of ambulances for inter-hospital transfers.

HT had, on September 24, reported about the acute shortage and poor management of ambulances under the civic body (HT Photo)

“Since automatic contract renewals are not allowed under civic rules anymore, we have addressed this issue by extending the contracts (of specalised doctors),” Dr Neelam Andrade, director of all BMC hospitals, said on Thursday while addressing a media briefing.

A fresh hiring process for doctors and medical staff would be started in January and the contracts would run till March 2027, Dr Andrade said.

As reported by HT on September 22, contracts of 18 specialised doctors whose duties were divided between Cooper Hospital in Andheri and HBT Trauma Care Centre in Jogeshwari expired on August 24. Though the doctors were reinstated at work without contracts 10 days later, services at both hospitals were hampered, with surgeries being postponed and hundreds of young patients being turned away due to shortage of doctors.

The BMC has now given an extension to all 18 doctors for another two months, till fresh recruitments start in January.

The civic body has also decided to review the shortage of ambulances for inter-hospital transfers at peripheral hospitals, said Sharad Ughade, deputy municipal commissioner (health), who also addressed the media briefing.

“Since we have received feedback regarding non-provision of ambulance services at peripheral hospitals, we will review it and look into the matter,” Ughade told reporters.

HT had, on September 24, reported about the acute shortage and poor management of ambulances under the civic body, which was pushing poor patients at peripheral hospitals, such as the Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar, towards private operators who charged exorbitant rates.

Dr Andrade also said that the team administering Cooper Hospital since former dean Dr Sudhir Medhekar was relieved of his administrative duties for lapses was trying “very hard” to fix everything at the hospital. Apart from Dr Andrade and Ughade, the team includes Nair hospital dean, Dr Shailesh Mohite.

The issues the team was trying to resolve included waste disposal, training of contractual staff, repairs to false ceilings and regular pest control, said Dr Andrade.

“Everything should turn around in the next two months,” she stated. “Previous orders for medicines were not fulfilled by contractors as their payments were pending. So we have issued fresh orders through the central purchase department.”

While the probe against former dean Dr Medhekar was still underway, recruitment for more than 120 contractual posts out of a sanctioned vacancy of 217 had been approved, Dr Andrade added.

PPP rollout delayed

Ughade, while addressing the media briefing, said there was a delay in processing tenders under BMC’s new public-private partnership model, which has been renamed ‘Civic Health Collaboration’.

“Each tender that we have floated has only attracted one or two bidders, and the process has been extended for the fourth time till the first week of October. It looks like this will take a while,” Ughade said.

As per BMC’s plans, public-private partnerships will be rolled out at Dr Ambedkar Hospital in Kandivali, Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar, Bhabha Hospital in Bandra and Kurla, MT Agarwal hospital in Mulund, and Bhagwati hospital in Borivali. They will cover a hemodialysis centre for kidney patients, sonology services, a cardiology department with cath lab facilities, MRI and CT scan facilities, and a blood bank. Plans are also afoot to privatise the 580-bed New Shatabdi Medical College and Hospital in Govandi and the 480-bed Lallubhai Compound Hospital in Mankhurd, with only 264 and 150 beds, respectively, reserved for BMC patients.

Meanwhile, the BMC is still inviting bids from interested parties to provide intensivist services at 12 peripheral hospitals, despite concerns raised by activists.

“Peripheral hospitals do not have doctors required to run ICUs. They lack postgraduate students and trained specialists. So we have no option but to outsource these services,” Dr Mohite said during the media briefing.

Strict conditions will be enforced to ensure qualifications and certifications of doctors are as per requirements, he added.