19-Jul-2014
VISAKHAPATNAM: With the Bill to conduct electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) under anaesthesia for mentally ill patients all set to become a law, medical experts point to the need for creating posts of qualified anaesthetists at government-run mental hospitals.
In fact, with several ECTs being held per day at government mental hospitals, doctors feel it is important to set up anaesthesia units in each mental hospital.
For instance, at the Government Hospital for Mental Care (GHMC), Vizag, around 20 patients are administered ECT daily and once the Bill becomes a law, it would becoming mandatory to conduct the ECT in the presence of not just a psychiatrist but also a qualified anaesthetist. The anaesthesia dose has to be given for a few minutes, say three to five minutes, but has to be administered by a qualified anaesthetist.
“We have already started conducting ECT under general anaesthesia by making temporary arrangements for anaesthetists since there was a vacancy for two psychiatrists. So, those two vacant posts are held by anaesthetists now. But once regular psychiatrists are posted, we will immediately need sanctioning of posts for anaesthetists,” said GHMC superintendent Dr N N Raju.
“In fact, we have sent proposal to the government to set up a four-member anaesthesia unit that will include a post graduate student too,” added the psychiatrist.
Dr A Satyanarayana, head of the department of anaesthesia at King George Hospital (KGH), also pointed to the need for immediate sanctioning of posts. “At KGH, we are the second largest department after gynaecology comprising around 30 anaesthetists. But overall in the country, there’s a dearth of anaesthetists. They are not distributed proportionately in the area or district hospitals in psychiatry and other wings. With ECT under general anaesthesia to be made mandatory soon, if posts aren’t sanctioned now, anaesthetists from other general hospitals will have to be called in to conduct ECT in psychiatric care centres, which will create confusion and problems,” he said.
THE DISPATCH...On Mental Health 