Ludhiana: Over 40% posts of doctors vacant at civil hospital
The hospital has roped in two physicians on a deputation basis from the sub-divisional hospital (SDH) in Khanna and the community health centre (CHC) in Macchiwara
The civil hospital of Ludhiana, the biggest urban centre in the state, is suffering from a severe shortage of doctors as over 40 per cent of the sanctioned posts of doctors are vacant at present.
There are a total of 64 sanctioned posts, and 28 of these are vacant. 25 of these are for specialists.
The most important of the vacant posts are three posts for physicians. The last regular physician here was promoted to the post of family welfare officer earlier this year, and the hospital has been without any regular physician since then.
The hospital has roped in two physicians on a deputation basis from the sub-divisional hospital (SDH) in Khanna and the community health centre (CHC) in Macchiwara. These doctors attend the OPD for three days on a rotational basis.
“The absence of a regular physician is the most concerning issue. A physician is the first doctor any patient goes to whenever they face any health issue,” said a senior hospital official, on the condition of anonymity.
It is pertinent here to mention that there are no sanctioned posts of cardiologists or neurologists at the hospitals, so all the patients are to be looked after by the physician only.
The two posts of surgeons are also vacant. The hospital has roped in two surgeons from other government hospitals of the district as an ad hoc arrangement.
The hospital has a sanctioned strength of 39 for medical officers (MBBS doctors), who serve at the emergency at other facilities. Only 17 of these are filled at present and 3-4 of them are also mostly posted to additional duties. Half of these doctors have been appointed only recently.
“Recently, after the 1000 medical officers’ recruitment round, the emergency medical officers (EMO) count at Ludhiana civil hospital has doubled. Currently, we have 14 EMOs. To streamline the emergency services, we have doubled the on duty EMOs (two per shift) at evening and night shifts,” said senior medical officer (SMO) Dr Akhil Sareen.
The SMO said the department was in a process of appointing more specialists and expected some of them to be posted at the civil hospital.
“Walk-in interview for around 160 posts of specialist doctors is in the pipeline and the fresh MD/MS passouts (under bond obligation) will also be joining after a couple of months. Hopefully, the shortage will be addressed soon,” he said.
