Cancer
care network on cards
Cancer patients of Bihar
may not have to go outside the state for treatment if the plan of Bihar Medical
Services and Infrastructure Corporation Limited (BMSICL) takes shape. The
disease claims over 50,000 lives every year in the state, while over 80,000 new
cancer cases come up, according to research done by the local Mahavir Cancer
Sansthan.
BMSICL envisages creation
of diagnostic and treatment infrastructure for cancer right from district
hospital to medical college level in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
A pre-bid meeting took
place in this regard on Tuesday, in which expression of interest (EOI) was
discussed with 9 bidders, including Philips Healthcare (Gurgaon), Roentgen
Oncologic Solution (Delhi), Imperial Health Private Limited (New Delhi), Wipro
GE Healthcare (Kolkata) and Paras Hospital (Patna).
BMSICL MD Praveen Kishore
said more pre-bid meets would take place and final tendering will be done in a
month. After bidding, the service should roll out in a year or so.
The plan is to have a state-of-the-art
oncology centre at Patna Medical College and Hospital. It will have a PET-CT
machine, the first government hospital of the state to do so, apart from other
equipment. PET-CT machine helps diagnose the stage of cancer in a patient,
enabling the doctor concerned to tweak treatment. It also helps know if cancer
can reoccur. A fully functional nuclear medicine department will also be
created in PMCH.
At the next level, all
other medical college and hospitals of the state would house regional oncology
centres with advanced diagnostic and treatment facilities. They will have
radiotherapy treatment facilities with all modern machines. The district-level
hospitals will be able to do the diagnosis, and possibly offer first-stage
treatment too. They will have facilities for cytological examination, biopsy,
radiological and sonological examination, among others.
The private developer will
create and maintain the infrastructure as also provide manpower for operating
equipment. The government's role will be confined to providing space and
building along with its basic infrastructure. Doctors for overall supervision will
be the state government's.
Kishore said the state may
be divided into clusters. Bid for the entire project may go to one developer or
may be given cluster-wise.
All OPD patients will be
treated free, while in-patients would be charged. That could also be waived off
or subsidized as per the background of the patient. The charges would be fixed
later, with the rates of central government health scheme (CGHS) being taken as
a base. The bidder may be asked to offer a discount on these rates. The
contract, initially, is proposed for three years, which may be extended to five
years.
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