The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Anaesthesiologists for uniform standards

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007
ePaper

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Anaesthesiologists for uniform standards

Y.Mallikarjun

HYDERABAD: Even as the advances in modern anaesthesiology have enabled surgeons to use scalpel in complicated surgeries, a group of senior anaesthesiologists feels that some minimum mandatory requirements should be implemented across-the-board in all hospitals for providing anaesthesiology services to ensure patient safety.

Talking to The Hindu on the eve of World Anaesthesiology Day, observed on October 16, M.Subrahmanyam, P.B.N.Gopal and T.V.S.Gopal, said that although the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists (ISA) had framed some guidelines on the lines of ‘Minimum Mandatory Monitoring’ (MMM) introduced in the United States of America, United Kingdom and other countries, they were not being enforced by all institutions as they were not legally binding on them.

As part of the ‘Minimum Mandatory Monitoring’ guidelines, the use of non-invasive monitors like the ECG, BP monitor, pulse oxymeter and Capnogram (which monitor vital functions) have been suggested by the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists.

Audible alarms

The monitors not only record and display patient details but also give audible alarms if certain threshold levels get breached so that the anaesthesiologists could respond immediately and avert any problem to the patient, they pointed out.

While the monitors were being used in big hospitals, the same was not the case with smaller hospitals and nursing homes.

The anaesthesiologists, who are part of Axon Anaesthesia Associates, suggested that a nodal agency or a committee should be appointed to inspect the hospitals and nursing homes whether the mandatory guidelines were being followed.

“If the standards are not followed licence to anaesthetise should be withdrawn,” observed Dr.P.B.N.Gopal.

He and Dr.T.V.S.Gopal also felt that a grading of hospitals should be done based on the available facilities so that both the medical professionals and patients could know what kind of services to expect.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail