NMC advises installation of cameras in all medical colleges

NEW DELHI: In a bid to improve the quality of medical education in the country, the regulatory body NMC has issued an advisory recommending the installation of cameras on the premises of all medical colleges and institutions. This is in continuation of the digital mission mode project being run by the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the erstwhile Medical Council of India to ensure and monitor the availability of an adequate number of patient teaching faculty and also to monitor regular teaching programs in the medical colleges.

This is a step forward towards developing a robust monitoring mechanism and providing for transparency and accountability in the functioning of medical colleges, official sources said. If utilised properly, this would also be a way forward for digitisation of the assessment process for approvals being granted to medical colleges either for enhancement of undergraduate courses or starting or enhancement of post-graduate courses, they said.

"Use of such technology and artificial intelligence would make assessments and instructions transparent and an ongoing process instead of the current one time process," an official source said. The total number of cameras recommended for installation is 25 - one at the main entrance of the hospital and college, two at the patient registration centre, and five at the OPDs (depending on the number of OPDs in the medical college but it should cover medicine OPD, surgical OPD, gynaecological OPD, paediatrics OPD, ortho OPD etc).

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Besides, it has recommended the installation of two cameras at the pre-anaesthesia area and recovery area in the operation theatre complex, two at the faculty lounge and attendance-making area, five at all five lecture theatres, one at the anatomy dissection hall, two each at the physiology lab-bio-chemistry UG labs and patho and microbiology labs and one each at the pharmacology lab, patient attendant waiting area and emergency and casualty ward. The NMC has suggested that institutes should use digital video recorders with high procession power with networking for remote accessibility, recommended with 16 channels and CCTVs to be with 4k resolution.