Outsourcing ICUs in peripheral hospitals is waste of public money, say doctors

Bhagwati Hospital, Borivli (W) is one of the peripheral hospitals whose critical care unit will be outsourced from June 1

A pilot project floated by the civic corporation has upset doctors working at MICUs/ICCUs/SICUs/EMS in civic peripheral hospitals. The project is to outsource these departments to private players. While the BMC claims this has been done to tackle the shortage of doctors in critical care units, the irked doctors claim it is nothing but a waste of public money.

Come June 1, the critical care units of most peripheral hospitals will have doctors appointed by three agencies who have recently won two-year contracts amounting to Rs 23 crore. The three agencies are M/s Jivan Jyot Charitable Trust, Criti Care and Associates run by former Chief Medical Superintendent Peripheral hospitals Dr Seema Malik and a third centre to be run by Dr Sandeep Sharma of Sai Samruddhi.

Dr Avinash Supe

The suburbs have 12 peripheral hospitals, divided into four groups on the basis of location. Interestingly, out of the four groups A, B, C and D, outsourcing at Group A hospitals (Bhabha Hospital, Bandra (W), V N Desai Hospital, Santacruz (E) and Bal Thackeray Trauma Care Hospital, Jogeshwari (E)) has been cancelled over political pressure.

A senior doctor at one of the peripheral hospitals in the suburbs said, "We have a fully operational and smoothly functioning ICU/MICU with the required number of senior doctors and Resident Medical Officers (RMOs). Our wards are usually full with emergency cases including cardiac emergency, which we handle round the clock. Why are they claiming that we have shortage of staff and our centre needs to be outsourced? The existing doctors are paid a monthly salary as per BMC norms (Rs 50,000-Rs 55,000 for resident doctors, who include post MBBS and MD/MS Registrars and Houseman, etc). BMC has already got more than 1,000 medical officers on its payroll, who are fulltime doctors deployed at both peripheral hospitals/dispensary and a few at medical colleges.

Dr Ketan Vagholkar

Interestingly, out of the nine hospitals picked for outsourcing in the western and eastern suburbs, MT Agarwal Hospital in Mulund, Bhabha Hospital, Kurla and Krantiveer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Hospital, Vikhroli (E) are undergoing repairs, while Sant Mukta Bhai Hospital in Ghatkopar (W) does not even have ICU/MICU facilities.

While Jivan Jyot Charitable Trust has bagged six hospitals (Group B and Group D), for which they will be paid Rs 17 crore for two years, Group C hospitals of Rajawadi and Sant Mukhtabai, both in Ghatkopar (East and West), are with Dr Seema Malik's Criti Care, while Bhaba Hospital, Kurla, is with Dr Sharma for Rs 1.50 crore, said Dinesh Vibhute, spokesperson of Jivan Jyot Charitable trust.

Vibhute said, "BMC's pay scales for MBBS and postgraduates are very low. We have hired 35 to 40 MBBS and postgraduate doctors at a salary of Rs 60,000-Rs 65,000 per month for eight-hour duties and are hiring at least three MBBS doctors per hospital. A postgraduate MD/MS, including anaesthetists, are hired on a pay scale of Rs 1.50 lakh a month. Super specialty consultants like cardiologists, neurologists and neuro surgeons will be paid R1,500 and above per visit."

When asked to elaborate on the working system, Vibhute explained, that their role was to ensure that the doctors were made available to take care of patients in ICU/MICU/trauma units. They will be using the existing infrastructure of staff nurses, ward boys, equipment, machinery and medicines.

Asked about prior work experience in such a set-up, Vibhute said they had won a similar tender in 2004 for 10 years to take over the administration and day-to-day working of V N Desai Hospital, where they had to arrange for everything from doctors to medicines. "We continue to do so even after the tender period is over and have got an extension," he said.

Reminded that outsourcing was cancelled for V N Desai in the current proposal, Vibhute said that was only for the ICU/MICU. "We will continue to handle the functioning of the hospital." Attempts made to contact Dr Seema Malik and Dr Sharma did not yield any results.