India, Sept. 9 -- The BMC is set to outsource intensivists to manage 153 ICU beds across 12 peripheral hospitals in the city in order to provide critical care access to residents of the surrounding areas. The intensivists include anaesthesiologists, physicians and post-graduates in general medicine who have received specialised training in handling critical care patients. The appointments are to be made within two months and the contracts will extend for two years.

An officer in a BMC-run peripheral hospital said this was being done to increase the service efficiency in the hospitals, as peripheral hospitals lack post-graduate doctors. However, health activists have warned that outsourcing can lead to several problems, including accounta...