SCTIMST faces flak for surgery backlogs, appointment cancellations

Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), one of the premier teaching hospitals in the country and the lone hospital under the Department of Science and Technology, is yet again facing flak for delays in treatment, long waiting periods for surgeries and last-minute cancellations of appointments.

Kodikkunnil Suresh, MP, had in a statement here sought an urgent resolution of the patient care issues at SCTIMST, especially the long waiting period for accessing care.

“We are aware of the difficulties faced by patients but there is no easy resolution for these problems. The patient volume has gone up so much that we probably need three SCTIMSTs to reduce the waiting period and give prompt attention to everyone,” a senior administrative official told The Hindu.

“We get frequent requisitions from various political leaders about accommodating patients from their constituencies ahead of the queue. But we are helpless because as a premier public sector institution, we have to be fair to everyone and cannot jump priority,” he added.

For quite some time now, SCTIMST has been in a squeeze because of faculty shortage and an unmanageable volume of patients. The situation has worsened in recent times, resulting in a waiting period of six months to one year for cardiac surgeries and over four months for neuro surgeries.

At present emergency cases are given priority in management, while elective cases are assigned a later date.

“We cannot run surgeries on a 24x7 basis because high turnover will result in issues such as poor infection control and errors in decision making, which will compromise patient safety,” a faculty member said.

“Many elective cases get pushed back when we prioritise cases requiring emergency attention. If three or four emergency cases come on a particular day, elective cases which had been posted for the day will get postponed and the waiting list gets longer. Last minute cancellations of surgeries and invasive procedures are a reality,” he added.

Some of the country’s best minds work here, but recently high attrition has become the Institute’s biggest issue. “Highly trained and experienced faculty in key cardiac and neuro specialities have been leaving SCTIMST to seek better work atmosphere and opportunities for skill expansion,” doctors at SCTIMST said.

“Talented people do not stay because they feel that their intellectual growth is being stifled by red tape and procedural delays. The hassles in getting permission to present a paper at a conference itself is a draining experience. Cardiac surgery waiting list is getting longer because in the last two years, four faculty members left. In neuro surgery department too, two doctors left while another has gone on long leave,” a faculty member said.

“There is a shortage of equipment/accessories and annual maintenance, because suppliers are not paid on time. This is affecting the efficiency and life of costly equipment. Requisitions from equipment suppliers have been piling up but rules and procedural hurdles are holding up everything. No proactive effort is being taken to get things moving here,” sources here said.

A new nine-storey, 2,70,000 sq ft building with nine operation theatres and three Cath labs, MRI and CT Scan suite, constructed under Prime Minister’s Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) scheme was unveiled recently. However, except for the outpatient department and pay ward facilities, the operation theatres or other facilities have not been commissioned, which is adding to the delays in patient care, it is pointed out.