THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Health Minister K Muraleedharan on Monday said the state government viewed incidents of "medical negligence" with the utmost seriousness and would take stringent action against those found responsible.
Announcing a series of measures to improve patient care in government hospitals, the minister said the government was committed to preventing such incidents and strengthening healthcare services.
Replying to a calling attention motion moved by BJP MLA V Muraleedharan in the Assembly, the minister said the government had issued strict directions to ensure that incidents of medical negligence were not repeated.
He said a surgical protocol would be implemented in hospitals, while steps had also been taken to prevent overcrowding.
Hospitals have been directed to discourage outside food and introduce community kitchen facilities.
Orientation programmes are being conducted for doctors and other staff, while a faculty member and a nursing officer have been entrusted with the responsibility of periodically updating patients' relatives on their condition.
Muraleedharan said the government also wanted to eliminate, as far as possible, the practice of accommodating patients on the floor in medical colleges.
As a first step, it plans to strengthen facilities at Primary Health Centres and Community Health Centres to reduce the patient load on tertiary care hospitals.
He said several spaces in medical colleges remained underutilised, and the government had initiated steps to construct new buildings, increase bed capacity, create additional posts and augment staff strength.
Muraleedharan said government hospitals would also be modernised by mobilising Corporate Social Responsibility funds, adding that several prominent institutions and media organisations had assured support for the state's public healthcare sector.
He said Local Self-Government Institutions had been given strict instructions to ensure the timely removal of waste in view of the possibility of a dengue outbreak during the ongoing monsoon season.
Muraleedharan added that the staff pattern in government hospitals would be revised to increase manpower and improve healthcare services.
