Senior doctor Haris Chirakkal, who had earlier triggered a political controversy by highlighting shortages of surgical equipment at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, has welcomed the State government’s initiative to end the practice of accommodating patients on hospital floors.

Dr. Chirakkal, Head of the Urology department at the Government Medical College Hospital here, had hit the headlines after flagging shortages of essential surgical equipment and delays in surgeries during the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s tenure.

In a Facebook post praising Health Minister K. Muraleedharan on Sunday, Dr. Chirakkal described the government’s decision as a “very humane” one.

“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,” he said.

The doctor said patients referred to major hospitals with life-threatening illnesses deserved a clean place and a bed, and suggested long-term measures to ease overcrowding at the Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital.

Noting that space constraints limited further expansion of the medical college campus, he suggested shifting some departments to the Pulayanarkotta hospital campus, where adequate land was available.

He also proposed upgrading the General Hospital and Women and Children Hospital, Thycaud, into medical colleges so that patients requiring basic speciality care could be treated there, allowing the Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital to focus more on super-speciality services such as cardiology, neurology, nephrology, oncology, urology, transplantation and robotic surgery.

Dr. Chirakkal also urged theMinister to ensure that administrative procedures did not delay the implementation of health-care reforms and that modern treatment facilities were made accessible to the common people at the earliest.

His remarks came days after Mr. Muraleedharan announced that the government had initiated steps to end the practice of accommodating patients on hospital floors in State-run medical college hospitals.

As part of the initiative, the fever clinic at the medical college hospital here will be shifted to the Pulayanarkotta Chest Disease Hospital, where around 200 beds will be arranged for patients, the Minister had said.

He had also announced that a new block would be constructed at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode using CSR funds to address overcrowding there.

The issue of patients being treated on hospital floors had recently drawn widespread criticism against the State’s health department.