Chennai: To tighten monitoring of govt hospitals, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) has appointed 50 nodal officers to oversee compliance with directives issued to medical institutions across Tamil Nadu.Officers will monitor corrective measures, ensure deficiencies identified during inspections are addressed within stipulated timelines, and submit progress reports to the govt. This move comes days after chief minister C Joseph Vijay made a surprise inspection at the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Government Hospital for Women and Children, Egmore.After reviewing patient care, infrastructure and sanitation, Vijay asked officials to rectify the shortcomings immediately. Chennai’s major tertiary care hospitals, including Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Government Stanley Medical College Hospital, Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, Government Royapettah Hospital and Institute of Child Health, get thousands of patients every day.“The initiative aims to improve patient care, hospital infrastructure and essential services through closer supervision and accountability. Regular reviews will be conducted to monitor progress on issues relating to patient amenities, cleanliness, maintenance of equipment, availability of essential medicines and overall hospital management,” said R Suganthy Rajakumari, Director of Medical Education.DMER has also instructed every govt medical college hospital to nominate an institutional nodal officer, preferably the Medical Superintendent, Resident Medical Officer or Head of the Community Medicine department, to coordinate with the state-level monitoring team. A senior professor has been appointed as the state nodal officer for quality aspects, including patient experience and satisfaction, and will coordinate with hospitals across districts.Officials said the monitoring exercise will extend beyond Chennai to medical institutions in districts such as Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy, Salem, Tirunelveli, Vellore and Thanjavur. Periodic inspections and progress reports will be used to assess compliance with the chief minister’s directives, with hospitals expected to address identified deficiencies within timelines to improve the quality of public healthcare.
