Pakyong/Mamring, Aug 13 : Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) has directed specialist and super-specialist doctors at STNM Hospital to act with greater accountability while referring patients outside Sikkim, stating that cases treatable within the state should not be routinely sent elsewhere.
The Chief Minister made the remarks while addressing a gathering at Mamring in Pakyong district, part of the run-up to the 80th Independence Day celebrations. He said the state government has invested heavily in upgrading STNM Hospital’s medical infrastructure, procuring advanced equipment for specialised treatment and surgical procedures.
Our STNM Hospital does not lack machines. Whatever equipment doctors have said is necessary, the government has procured and purchased. Even highly sophisticated machines required for operations have been provided by importing them, Tamang said.
He voiced concern that some of the equipment acquired on the recommendation of doctors was not being adequately utilised despite the significant expenditure involved, and said the purpose of building super-specialist capacity in the state was to allow patients to access quality treatment closer to home rather than being routinely sent outside Sikkim.
The Chief Minister clarified that outside referrals remain necessary where a procedure cannot be performed in the state or where the required equipment or expertise is unavailable. If the machine required for an operation is not available here, refer the patient. If an operation cannot be performed here, refer the patient. But patients should not be referred unnecessarily when treatment is possible here, he said.
Tamang noted that travelling outside Sikkim for treatment imposes a heavy financial, physical and emotional burden on patients and their families, and urged doctors to carefully weigh whether a referral is genuinely warranted before sending a patient elsewhere.
Addressing party workers and health coordinators present at the event, the Chief Minister asked them not to bring patients directly to him or other ministers simply to showcase access to senior political leadership. He said a formal mechanism already exists to assist patients requiring medical treatment and financial support, and that cases should be routed through designated channels, including hospitals, the Jan Kalyan Prakostha and the medical cell, where officials have been assigned specifically to process such requests.
Citing procedures such as kidney and liver transplants, Tamang said patients do not need to personally meet the Chief Minister to receive assistance. There is a mechanism. A kidney transplant can be facilitated without meeting the Chief Minister. A liver transplant can also be facilitated. People need to understand this, he said.
He further directed health coordinators to remain accessible through designated party offices to help patients navigate the existing system, adding that those requiring treatment outside Sikkim should report their cases through proper channels instead of approaching multiple offices or functionaries.
According to the Chief Minister, constituency-level party offices have designated personnel authorised to examine cases and direct patients to the appropriate authorities or medical institutions. Officials have also been specifically appointed to facilitate medical assistance, ensuring eligible cases move through the system without unnecessary delay. Once documentation and scrutiny are complete, files requiring final financial or administrative sanction are forwarded to the Chief Minister for approval.
Their job is to send the patients where they need to go. Finally, when a file requiring sanction comes to me, I sanction it, Tamang said.
The Chief Minister’s remarks pointed to three key priorities for Sikkim’s healthcare system going forward: reducing avoidable referrals outside the state, ensuring optimal utilisation of costly medical infrastructure at STNM Hospital, and strengthening the existing framework through which patients access government-supported medical assistance.
