Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will meet principals anddirectors of medical colleges andhospitals in the state on Thursdayat Nabanna.
It will be the first meeting of the chief minister with the heads of the hospitals since the rape and murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 that triggered a 42-day cease-work by junior doctors.
The principal of a medical college said it would be the first such meeting in 2024.
State government sources said the chief minister would like to take stock of the implementation of safety and security measures that are supposed to be done by the government medical colleges.
“Some of the main demands of the junior doctors were to ensure safety and security at the medical colleges, including installation of CCTVs, separate rest rooms for male and female doctors and deployment of adequate security personnel,” said a state government official.
“The medical colleges have already started the work,” the official said.
The junior doctors have partially resumed duties in medical colleges. They are serving in the emergency, the critical care units but not attending OPD clinics or conducting planned surgeries.
The principals received a mail regarding the meeting on Tuesday.
Senior officials of medical colleges have said the partial resumption of duties by junior doctors has improved patient care, but it is still far from normal. Mamata’s meeting with the heads of the institutions in the backdrop of this gains special significance.
Mamata met the junior doctors at her Kalighat home on September 16. During the course of the cease-work, she appealed to the junior doctors several times to resume duties and spoke about how patients were suffering.
While visiting Birbhum, parts of which have been inundated by the floods, on Tuesday, Mamata iterated that her government will give ₹2 lakh compensation to families of 29 people who died in the absence of treatment while the cease-work by junior doctors was going on.
“This will be the first time the chief minister will meet the principals or directors of medical institutions this year. The chief minister has met the heads of the institutions a few times earlier,” the principal of a medicalcollege said.
The email inviting the principals and directors arrived around 5pm on Tuesday. The state health department sent the email, but it did not mention any agenda for the meeting.
“In previous meetings with the chief minister, matters like operational challenges were discussed. Medical colleges and hospitals need to expand but land is scarce. This is something that some principals have raised in earlier meetings,” said the principal.
Thursday’s meeting at Nabanna Sabhaghar will start at 4.30pm.
“There used to be monthly review meetings with the health secretary earlier, but it was discontinued a year or two before Covid. The present health secretary conducts review meetings every two-three months and the chief ministers meets us on occasions,” said a principal.