New private medical college to maintain Govt hospital

By Vikas Vaidya

In a major respite to proposed private medical colleges the Medical Council of India (MCI) has recommended that they need not have their own hospitals. On the contrary, these colleges will be allowed to use and maintain the nearby Government run hospital and health-care facility. This will save lot of public expenditure on Government Hospitals and simultaneously provide a readymade hospital infrastructure to new private medical colleges. However, the relaxation will not be applicable in districts where two or more medical colleges are already in existence.
This decision has been recently notified by Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.
A MCI panel led by Dr Vedprakash Mishra while recommending this relaxation, put the onus of maintaining entire health infrastructure on private colleges and made it mandatory to safeguard the interest of State Governments. These private medical college while availing Government-owned hospital has to keep 20% seats reserved for Government quota. They also have to ensure patient care in affiliated hospital of the college as per existing MCI norm.
As per the earlier rules, a 400-bedded hospital was needed to open a new medical college of 100 seats. Most of the private college did not get patients which they used to bring from nearby villages. This farcical situation will end, if this new regime is implemented in toto. The report was finalised on September 4, 2015 and MCI Executive Committee approved it on September 21 while General Body gave its nod on October 1. The report, which is likely to evoke opposition from Government Medical Colleges, was discussed threadbare by MCI at various levels and after brain-storming, it was accepted.
The hospital owned and managed by the Government should be of minimum 300 beds with necessary infrastructural facilities capable of being developed into a teaching institution situated on a plot of land having an area prescribed in regulations. The college has to provide free transportation to students and staff.
This hospital is to be transferred by the Government to applicant trust through Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a minimum period of 33 years or by way of lease upto 99 years. Hospital must be suitably altered through appropriate modifications into a teaching hospital specially with reference to the break up of the 300 beds into 120 beds for surgical specialities, 120 for medical specialities and 60 for Obstetrics and Gynaecology and also capable of forming clinical units of 30 beds each.
The clinical staff working in the hospital if gets fit into the prescribed norms of teaching then that staff can be given that status in medical colleges. The colleges don’t have to appoint teaching staff separately. All the benefits of the staff will be protected. This will not be applicable to non-teaching staff.