Thiruvananthapuram: Health minister K Muraleedharan said an acute shortage of personnel was hindering the implementation of high court’s directive permitting night-time postmortem examinations in state.Replying to questions in the assembly, the minister said the previous govt had initiated steps to address the issue, but the required arrangements couldn’t be completed. He pointed out that high court had ruled that employees shouldn’t be compelled to perform night postmortems unless adequate staff strength and basic infrastructure were ensured.High court had directed that night postmortem facilities be made available at medical colleges in Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Thrissur and general hospital in Kasaragod.Under Union health ministry’s revised protocol, hospitals equipped with the necessary infrastructure are permitted to conduct postmortem examinations at night. The move is intended to expedite organ donation procedures and ensure that bodies are handed over to relatives without unnecessary delay, replacing the earlier practice of conducting postmortems only during the day.The minister noted that Kerala had issued an order allowing night-time postmortems even before Centre introduced its revised guidelines. The state policy was aimed at promoting organ donation by facilitating postmortem examinations after organ retrieval in cases where brain death was certified.
