Purchase procedures of KMSCL to be changed

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The purchase procedures of Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd (KMSCL) to supply medicines and other equipment at medical colleges and government hospitals will be changed. Changes have been made to ensure that there will not be any complaints of shortage of medicines.There were several complaints last year regarding shortage of medicines in hospital as the suppliers not being able to meet the demand. The defaulters were the small-scale manufacturers. KMSCL managing director Biju Prabhakar said that certain amendments have been made in the procedures for purchase in the financial year 2012-13.The companies have been asked to supply at least 15 per cent of the total quantum of medicines each month. “The companies have been asked to deliver 75 per cent of the medicines within four months. Usually, the supply decreases when the companies are not able to manufacture the product mix, which they have been entrusted with,” he said.A new concept has been developed for monthly product mix and assured supply schedule. KMSCL, which is entrusted with the purchase of all medicines in medical college hospitals and government hospitals, has to purchase 342 items and 15 per cent of it reaches the warehouses in a month.It has also been decided that if more companies come forward to bid for a single product and they are having more than one product, there is an opportunity for them to decide on which product to bid before participating in it, according to their manufacturing capacity. This will help reduce the competition for a single product and ensure that sufficient quantity of medicines is supplied.