Goa govt to form advisory board to monitor and improve services at GMCH

Panaji, Jun 19 (PTI) The Goa government will constitute an advisory board of experts to monitor the functioning of the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) and to bring its services on par with international standards, a state minister said on Thursday.

Talking to PTI, state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said the board, to be headed by him, will have representatives from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), World Health Organization (WHO) India, the Union government and top doctors.

The board members will guide to ensure that the services at the apex hospital are on par with international standards, he said.

He said that the board will have the state government's Additional Secretary (Health) as its member secretary.

Located at Bambolim near Panaji, the GMCH is Goa's largest government-run hospital with more than 1,000 beds, and caters to patients from adjoining regions of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Rane said that an advisory board for the GMCH existed in the past.

"We want to increase the efficiency of the hospital and provide good care to the patients with the ultimate objective of helping the poor and needy people," he said.

The advisory board will further strengthen the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of providing international standard health care in all the states, Rane added.

According to him, qualified doctors would be part of the specialised medical care system while others would be sent for training.

"It is important to have an advisory board with independent people on board along with the other agencies. The board will also decide the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the specialised treatments in the hospital," he said. PTI RPS NP