RAILWAY SAMACHAR

Corrupt practices in

medical department

of Trivendram divn., SR

Dear Sir,

I would like to put forth the following facts which will come under the purview of corruption, though not directly monetary!

In TVC Division, medical department has got a system of referring acutely ill patients who can not be treated at Railway Hospital, to various private hospitals. This system is openly misused by the doctors of TVC division. Railway is paying crores of rupees to these posh private hospitals even though a 50 bedded Railway hospital is functioning at Trivandrum Pettah. If we analyze the referred cases, we could find out that majority of them can be treated at Railway Hospital, TVC itself. But to reduce the workload of doctors/for not doing any work, they refer many cases which do not require any special treatment. Sometimes patients are being referred even without seeing them by the Railway doctor! This is when some influential people like higher officers or union leaders call them for private hospital reference. It is heard that many of the times, non railway people are getting admission in the name of railway beneficiaries. There is no system to cross check the identity or genuineness of the patient. At the same time many of the poor deserving uninfluential railway patients are not getting this facility.

There are doctors who have never got any transfer in life even after 18 years of service! One such doctor who works as the laboratory in charge has never worked out side Railway hospital, TVM. She is one of the maximum salary drawing officers of Trivandrum Division, who does nothing for Railway or patients. The condition of the laboratory is very very pathetic, apart from routine investigations; all other services are out sourced here. Two lab technicians are working in this hospital, but they never attend any emergency call for lab investigations. They are also here for so many years. The lab in charge who is a qualified pathologist is thus being wasted here. Other than some occasional smear examination there is no pathological or microbiological procedures are done here. And she never takes any interest in bringing up the services of the lab to the poor railway employees. The lab will collect the samples only up to 10.30 AM, though the OPD runs up to 5.30 PM. This timing is very inconvenient to the railway beneficiaries.

Another area of misuse of railway revenue is in Dentistry. One full time dental doctor is posted here who also does nothing to patients. But every month he sends the reports to the headquarter i.e Chennai by exaggerating the figures. He is working here for three and half days only in a week and the rest at PGT Division. But in his reports, he put the number of surgery (this is simple tooth extraction only) as 60-70/month. If we analyze this, he works at TVC for 12 days only in a month and to do 60-70 surgeries/month, on an average he has to do 5-6 surgeries per day. If the number of patients attending the dental OPD is considered, this figure can never be achieved. This doctor also doesn’t want to improve the dental specialty here. Moreover he attends the OPD at his own convenient time only!

On an average the OPD attendance in Railway hospital TVM is only 130-170. Though 50 bedded hospital, very rarely only, these beds become full. Especially the medical ward which is empty most of the time, which is again managed by the same Sr.DMO/Pathologist. If some patients are admitted from the OPD, the very next day they will be discharged or referred to private hospitals, for which railway has to pay lakhs of rupees. The doctors who work sincerely are being harassed by the Sr.DMO/Admn(the same pathologist) and her group of doctors. She always makes lot of problems to the Sr.DMO/Surgeon, who is a very popular doctor here. As Sr.DMO/Admn, she never arranges anything for the smooth running of the operation theatre and always makes all types of hindrances.

Sir, by all these activities, there is a huge loss to railway revenue. If these can be included in the wide frame of corruption, please have fact finding and a report in Railway samachar.

Thanking you,

A Reader

Trivendram