The state government’s desire to set up a post mortem centre at Siddharth Hospital in Goregaon (west) by August 15, with an aim to lessen the pressure at Bhagwati Hospital, might not be fulfilled this year, as there are no doctors and manpower available for the staff to be posted at the new centre.
In 2009, the state government proposed to set up four new post-mortem centres in the city at Siddharth Hospital, Centenary Hospital in Govandi, Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali and Mahatma Phule Hospital in Vikhroli.
Back then, Siddharth Hospital had got a NOC, and an amount of `3.5 crore was earmarked for the same. The infrastructure of the post-mortem centre at Siddharth Hospital is now ready for use, but is not operational due to the lack of doctors and manpower.
“On an average, there are over eight to nine bodies which are brought to the Bhagwati Hospital for a post-mortem,
including those from Vasai and Virar. A post-mortem centre at Goregaon will definitely help in cutting down the pressure from Bhagwati,” said a senior BMC official.
The official added, “But the state government will have to transfer experienced doctors from the other four post-mortem centres to this new centre, due to which the number of experienced doctors would decrease, leaving their posts vacant. Also, these experienced doctors will have to train new doctors for at least 15 days.” A doctor with the KEM Hospital, however, said, “I don’t wish to go to a post-mortem centre as the experience is not useful in future and we are not allowed to run a clinic.”
Another distant dream of the state government is to get doctors who complete their course in Forensics after MBBS. Currently, there are four post-mortem centres run by the state
government in Mumbai where MBBS doctors conduct a post-mortem. These are at Cooper Hospital, Bhagwati Hospital, Sir JJ Hospital and Rajawadi Hospital.