Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, May 18: State medical education minister Ramachandra Gowda  in the company of local MLA N Yogish Bhat, visited various departments of Lady Goschen Hospital in the city on Sunday May 17 and gathered information about the needs and infrastructure problems of the hospital from the hospital superintendent Dr Shakuntala.

He was informed that the hospital, which has 260 beds, needs to have at least 90 nurses as per the Medical Council of India rules, as against the present strength of 22. As there is pressure of patients, the hospital is forced to admit patients in excess of available beds. When the minister visited the hospital, there were 327 patients in the hospital, with additional patients having been accommodated on the floor.

Gowda said, the department is examining a proposal to get services of the students of nursing colleges functioning in the district, on rotation basis for this hospital. He also said appropriate steps would be taken if a proposal to set up government nursing school here comes from the local MLA, so that the shortage of nurses in government hospitals here can be addressed.

He also visited government Wenlock Hospital and met district surgeon Dr Prabhudev.

Admitting that the government had in the past, considered doing away with the Combined Entrance Test (CET) process for some of the courses including dental colleges, he said the government is not considering any proposal to put an end to this process as of now.  "The seats remaining unfilled in dental colleges through the CET will be allotted to other students based on marks scored by them," he clarified.  He also said the government is examining a proposal to meet 75% of the fees of talented students undergoing medical education in private medical colleges.