Stalin awards RGGGH, radiology head for exemplary services during pandemic

Chennai

Dr R Ravi, head of department of radiology at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital was awarded the best performing doctor’s award for handling the COVID cases effectively.

With diagnostic radiology procedures playing a crucial role during the pandemic, more than 70,000 CT scans were taken at the Barnard Institute of Radiology headed by Ravi. “It was a challenging task to handle both COVID and other cases simultaneously. Though trauma cases had reduced during the lockdown, we performed about 300 CT scans every day. CT scans and x-rays helped in the initial diagnosis of COVID-19 in the majority of the patients as RT-PCR reports took time,” Ravi added.

He added that it was a difficult task to motivate paramedical staff and push them to continue services as they had a higher risk of infection. “We had to make sure that our staff were tested, given adequate quarantine and treatment if infected. Moreover, the machines needed rest because they kept running continuously. Very often we had to call service engineers to restore the machines and because they were non-medical personnel, we had to be extremely careful,” Ravi said.

Talking about being awarded for his services by the Chief Minister, he said that the services of radiologists are usually not highlighted, but the award gave them recognition.

The Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital was also awarded for the efficient utilisation of the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme in the city. “Of all the medical college hospitals, we performed the highest number of medical procedures and several other parameters were analysed to provide medical care under CMCHIS as per the National Health Insurance Guidelines. COVID-19 treatment, diagnostic procedures and surgeries could be covered under CMCHIS and a large number of people have been benefitted due to the same,” said Dr E Theranirajan, dean of Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.