Calcutta Medical College ‘unlocked’ for non-Covid patients after junior doctors nudge Mamata government – Times Now

Kolkata: In a notification issued by the Principal of Medical College Calcutta, it has been stated that the indoor and outdoor services for non-Covid patients will resume. This will, in turn, continue the process of teaching and training of undergraduate, postgraduate trainees and post-doctoral students. The decision comes in the wake of the protests at Medical College by junior doctors since July 1. Junior doctors at the renowned government hospital claimed that their training had been completely stalled since the state government decided to convert the hospital to a dedicated Covid-19 facility.

Medical College had been designated as a tertiary level Covid hospital since May 9, 2020. Four buildings within the hospital premises in central Kolkata was being engaged to manage Covid-19 patients while non-Covid related treatment was suspended and transferred to other government-run hospitals in the city.

The notification back then stated the decision to stop routine admission and OPD facility was to mitigate the risk of Covid transmission. The decision to now resume services for all patients comes a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with the Medical College administration at the state secretariat to resolve the issues raised by the junior doctors.

Now it has been decided that only CB building will be utilised to manage Covid patients while MCH building, DHB building, Ezra and Shyamacharan Law infirmary (SLI) is not suitable to treat Covid cases. Education of medicine and allied subjects will be continued in the MCH building & SLI buildings and education on surgery will continue in Ezra and DHB buildings. Keeping in mind the growing number of Covid cases, instructions have been given for strict infection control measures to be closely monitored by the Hospital Infection Control Committee.

Junior doctors claimed that due to the closure of the Medical College for non-Covid patients, they have been rendered redundant due to multiple departments remaining closed. This, in turn, was hampering their training that takes place at OPDs and other departments and is a very crucial step in their learning. Finally, the impasse has ended after the Chief Minister’s intervention. Calcutta Medical College and Hospital is now open to serve non-Covid patients.