Were the rules broken for appointing the Urology head at the St. George Hospital?
15 Jan, 2014The reply to an application filed under the Right to information (RTI) Act has revealed that an urologist has been practicing at the state-run St. George’s Hospital (of JJ group of hospitals) in Mumbai for the past 28 years without possessing the mandatory super speciality degree. Dr. Jagdish Bhavani, currently the head of urology and superintendent at the St. George’s Hospital, has been practicing since 1985 though he doesn’t have a super speciality degree (M Ch) in urology.
Dr. Bhavani has refuted the allegations stating that he had sought a recognition equivalent to MCh from the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) and had obtained it. However, the documents obtained in the RTI reply suggest that Dr. Bhavani’s appointment by the state government was not according to the rules. The reply shows that he failed to produce his M Ch (Urology) degree even after being registered in 1982 as a student in King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital. The applicant said that the doctor could never complete the course.
As per the rules, a doctor must register with the statutory body Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) in order to be acclaimed as a super specialist. However, in the RTI reply, the MMC stated that Dr. Bhavani has not registered his additional qualification with the council.