Congress MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco demanded that the government immediately accommodate the eight doctors who are admitted for the post graduate degree in Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour. He said that the eight doctors of whom five from outside Goa have been working without any pay and in terrible conditions that is causing tremendous stress on them and thereby affecting the care and health of the patients at the hospital.
He said while earlier there were only three posts for MD in psychiatry in the hospital and all three would be working as junior residents. However, the problem has arisen now since the post graduate seats have been increased from three to eight. As there are no eight posts of junior residents, all the eight post graduate students are made to work as junior residents without giving any appointment letter or without being given any pay till date. Besides, he said, the junior residents have to work in pathetic condition as the premises are leaking and there is water all over the floor.
“In fact, the roof of the premises is covered with a plastic and one can imagine the condition inside where due to the slippery floor patients have fallen and even had fractures,” Reginaldo said. He also deplored the status of canteen where cockroaches have been found in the food and further pointed out that the canteen closes at 8 pm while doctors are on duty round the clock and cannot even have a cup of tea in the night. Appealing to the authorities to immediately address this problem of accommodating the eight post graduate students, he cautioned that if the students complain to the Medical Council of India, then, the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour (IPHB) Goa runs the risk of losing its accreditation as a Centre of Excellence.