The Service Doctors and Post Graduates Association (SDPGA) has come out against the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS) and has urged the State government to instead invest the yearly insurance premium amount of ₹1,200 crore in the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC) to pave way for direct procurement of drugs and equipment required for government hospitals.
In a statement issued on Thursday, SDPGA said that it was opposed to providing treatment for patients in government hospitals through CMCHIS. Like private firms, targets were fixed for performing treatments and surgeries, pressuring doctors to generate money through CMCHIS. This was also affecting patients. Doctors of the respective departments were told to utilise the funds generated to purchase drugs and equipment.
Every year, the government pays ₹1,200 crore as premium to the insurance company. This amount could be given to TNMSC so that the government can directly procure drugs and equipment at lesser cost and distribute to all government hospitals based on the requirements, the association said.
SDPGA demanded that the State government grant promotions and pay revision for government doctors through Government Order 354 and make an announcement in the upcoming Budget. They also demanded the government grant ₹1 crore for the families of deceased doctors from the corpus fund.
Noting that the inflow of patients to government hospitals was on the rise, the association said that several posts of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers were lying vacant and should be immediately filled through the Medical Services Recruitment Board (MRB). SDPGA demanded that doctors should be appointed through MRB and the government should drop efforts to make contractual recruitments on consolidated pay at the district-level, the statement said.
Published - February 16, 2023 09:18 pm IST
