Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, June 23: The authorities of Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati (MKCG) Medical College and Hospital here seem to be in a rush to fulfil the norms of the Medical Council of India (MCI). An auto-analyser for blood testing with zero possibility of human error was inaugurated at the regional diagnostic centre by the biochemistry department here today.

“Earlier, the council asked us to initiate steps to install the auto-analyser, which we procured from a Calcutta-based company at a cost of Rs. 9.9 lakh,” principal Sunamali Bag said.

Regarding speculations about MCI’s decision to withdraw the increased number of 43 seats in MBBS degree course from the MKCG Medical College, the only referral hospital in the southern part of the state, Bag said the MCI has extended the deadline for issuing a letter of permission for undergraduate courses for 2011-12 up to June 30.

“I am optimistic about fulfilling the prescribed norms of MCI. The state government has also initiated steps in this direction,” he said.

A four-member team led by Sitaram Mahapatra, joint director of the directorate of medical education and training, has already assessed the minimum infrastructural requirements of the medical college cum hospital. The team would soon inform the government about MKCG’s infrastructural needs. “The team has also studied the scope for increasing seats in MBBS course. We hope an increase in the number of seats would take place soon,” the principal said. Talking about the auto-analyser that was inaugurated today, head of the medical college’s biochemistry department, Srikrishna Mahapatra, said: “The machine is fully automated and we can test 300 blood samples in it every hour. Earlier, we were testing the blood manually with a semi-analyser. That was a time-consuming process. But with auto-analyser, not only would the service be quick, but the possibility of human error would also be reduced,” he said.

An assistant professor, a postgraduate student of the department, and a technician, besides a few others, would undergo a three-day training in operating the device.

Nirupama Devi, an assistant professor, who is being trained at operating the machine, said the result of the first blood sample would come out within 10 minutes. “After that, the result of subsequent samples would come out in every 10 seconds. We can completely rely on the machine’s precision. It has a continuous loading system and emergency samples can be loaded on a priority basis. Print-outs of the samples can also be generated,” she said.

Prafulla Chandra Panigrahi, a technician, said the laboratory would function from 8am till 5pm everyday. “While we would be trained at operating the machines in phases, the laboratory would be kept open round the clock. At present, the cost for test of blood sugar in a private diagnostic centre is Rs 50. But here, one can avail the same service at Rs 20. Similarly, sodium and potassium tests here costs Rs 60 and of liver function test costs is Rs 250, while the private centres charge Rs 350 and Rs 500 for the tests respectively,” he said.

Chandrakanta Panda, an engineer with the company that provided the auto-analyser machine, said they had installed 350 semi-auto and automated machines across the state.

Earlier, they had installed a lower version of the auto-analyser in Belpahar and Bhubaneswar. A higher version of the machine was also installed in the pathology department of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. “There is a semi-auto version of the machine at VSS Medical College and Hospital, Burla,” Panda said.