CHENNAI: The development of the Chengalpattu Medical College, in terms of increase in facilities and manpower, has not matched the increase in demand for patient care at the sixth oldest Medical College in the State.

The number of MBBS seats is still 50, unchanged since inception, and it runs a single post-graduate course. Staff strength is disproportionate to the volume of patients and this impacts on the quality of care accessed by an estimated 11,00,000 outpatients and around 2,10,000 inpatients annually.

A senior faculty member felt that the key to equipping the institution with more facilities and manpower was to increase the number of seats to 100 or 150, as had been done for so many newer medical colleges. "The staff pattern is still fixed for the 50 students that the college started out with and though the proportion of patients seeking treatment here has increased, there has not been a matching improvement either in facilities or staff strength," a senior doctor pointed out. House surgeons are the mainstay of routine treatment at the college and often, there is only one person to cater to as many as three wards.

Trauma care lacking

Casualty services — in particular, trauma care — are far from adequate at an institution located on the NH 45 and regularly receives road traffic accident cases. The present practice is to depute doctors from other departments to deal with the trauma cases.

A common complaint is that the facilities only permit the stabilisation of an accident victim before referral to Chennai.

The alumni association of the institution has sought a full-fledged 24-hour casualty unit with six medical officers, paramedics, CT scan, orthopaedic and neurosurgery units.

The opening of more PG courses is another demand placed by the alumni association. There is at present only one PG seat for MS (General Surgery). The college alumni and present faculty are looking to the Government to bolster the resources at the 40-year-old Medical College.

Recently, in memoranda submitted to the Health Minister, Labour Minister and the Health Secretary, the alumni association highlighted several inadequacies at the Medical College ranging from limited MBBS seats to skewed staff pattern.

The development of facilities at the institution had not been in tune with the founding vision in establishing a medical college on a 150-acre site in Chengalpattu, it was pointed out. This August the Alumni Association will celebrate its 10th anniversary.

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