‘Regimen of food not followed in GMC’

NT NETWORK

PANAJI

The Goa State Commission for Women has found that all the patients admitted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim, are served the same food, without following ‘food regimen’ for the patients.

This finding came against the backdrop of a number of complaints received from the relatives of the patients over the insipid food served to all patients without any change in dietary items.

The panel’s interviews with the patients’ relatives have brought to light that the hospital serves rice, pulses and vegetables to all the patients admitted to the hospital with no full liquid diet, except milk, included in the daily dietary list.

As a result, the patients’ relatives, mainly women coming from far-off places, are forced to travel back home to cook liquid food, leaving the patients alone.

The complainants have also said that doctors recommend full liquid diet for a few days for the patients who have undergone surgeries. However, such liquid food is not available in the hospital food supplies.

The commission has also found that doctors and nurses enjoy better food than the sick. Moreover, the GMC does not serve liquid meal supplements which contain foods that are liquid and are commonly prescribed to patients postoperatively in the hospital.

Taking cognisance of the travails of the women attendants, the commission came out with a plan and put it forth before the department of women and child development.

The proposal is to launch a mobile food van, converting an old Kadamba bus, with the help of a self-help group to serve to the patients  freshly prepared liquid foods like oats and ragi porridge, kanji (liquid or semi-liquid), soup, finely chopped fruit and fresh juices.

The initiative can be run on no-profit, no-loss basis.

However, the department of women and child

development turned down the proposal saying that no profit venture can be taken up by the commission, as it is against the functioning of the panel.

But the panel is determined to push the envelope on the proposal and has now decided to take the same proposal to the health department.

Speaking to ‘The Navhind Times’, a panel member said that malnutrition, including its prevention, is the primary concern of doctors working on post-operative patients. Hence proper diet plays an important role in speedy recuperation. The diet of only solid food delays healing and patient’s discharge from the hospital.

“Therefore the hospital must start prioritising on patient’s food,” the panel member said.

The commission has also recommended proper transition from a solid-food or regular diet to a liquid diet to ensure that the patients, especially those admitted for surgical management or gastrointestinal surgeries, receive adequate nutrition during a time when nutritional needs are significantly higher.