THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Neyyattinkara Government General Hospital is in a quandary. Though it has licence to operate a blood bank, it can’t, as there is no blood bank medical officer. The authorities concerned are yet to create the post of a blood bank / clinical lab cadre medical officer there.
It is learnt that a proposal of the district medical officer for creating the said post is now under the perusal of the Directorate of Health Services.
“Due to the absence of a blood bank medical officer, the blood bank at Neyyatinkara GH is yet to collect blood from donors.
As of now, it is collecting blood from the Thiruvananthapuram GH and Government Medical College here and provides the same to those in need,” said an officer of Neyyattinkara GH.
Sources said due to the non-functioning of the blood bank, the patients are having a difficult time as there is shortage of certain blood group types.
A blood bank medical officer is one who performs routine donor evaluation and monitoring.
Also, the law prohibits the functioning of a blood bank without the said officer. As per the National AIDS Control Organization’s stipulation, the officer is entrusted with the task of selection of donors for specific patients and providing consultation to blood bank technical and clerical personnel concerning donor selection.
When asked about this, Dr S Valsala, superintendent, Neyyatinkara GH said, “The process is on to appoint a blood bank medical officer. For the same, discussions at the DMO and DHS level is on. K Ansalan, MLA, is also intervening in the issue.” Meanwhile, it is learnt that other than the problem of post creation, the authorities concerned are also facing a dearth of qualified staff who could be appointed to the post.
“As per the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, the prerequisite of becoming a blood bank officer is either an MD in Pathology/Transfusion Medicine or MBBS degree with Diploma in Pathology/Transfusion Medicine along with experience at a blood bank unit or MBBS degree with one year experience at a blood bank unit.
At present the department has no such qualified staff,” said the source.