Kerala Doctor Applauds Government Plan to End Patient Floor Treatment
Dr. Haris Chirakkal, a senior doctor at the Government Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, has praised the Kerala government's decision to stop accommodating patients on hospital floors. The urology department head previously drew attention by highlighting shortages of surgical equipment during the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Dr. Chirakkal commended Health Minister K. Muraleedharan, calling the move “very humane.” He stated, “It is unacceptable to push critically ill patients under hospital beds or into corners of corridors. Congratulations to the Minister for taking concrete steps to resolve the issue.”
The doctor emphasized that patients referred to major hospitals with life-threatening illnesses deserve a clean environment and a proper bed. He proposed long-term measures to ease overcrowding at the Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital, noting that space constraints limit further expansion of the campus. Specifically, he suggested shifting some departments to the Pulayanarkotta hospital campus, which has adequate land, and upgrading the General Hospital and Women and Children Hospital in Thycaud into medical colleges. This would allow basic specialty care to be handled there, enabling the Thiruvananthapuram medical college to focus on super-specialty services like cardiology, neurology, nephrology, oncology, urology, transplantation, and robotic surgery.
Dr. Chirakkal also urged the minister to ensure that administrative procedures do not delay health-care reforms and that modern treatment facilities are made accessible to the common people promptly.
His remarks came after Mr. Muraleedharan announced steps to end floor treatment in state-run medical college hospitals. As part of this initiative, the fever clinic at the Thiruvananthapuram medical college will shift to the Pulayanarkotta Chest Disease Hospital, where around 200 beds will be arranged. Additionally, a new block will be constructed at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode using corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds to address overcrowding.
The practice of treating patients on floors had recently attracted widespread criticism of the state's health department.
