Young doctors are apparently unwilling to work in government hospitals in Haryana. Youths after qualifying medical studies were seen keen to work in government hospitals in past, but the situation now have changed.
A study reveals that more than 50% youths joining Haryana Civil medical Services (HCMS) leave their job after sometime either to switch over to private practice or private health sectors.
Sources reveal that in the year 2008-09 nearly 80 doctors including few senior specialists said ‘good bye’ to government service in the state when state government resolved the issue by announcing revised pay scales, enhancement in allowances and assured better service conditions.
According to a study and discussion with several doctors working in government hospitals, there were several reasons that doctors working in government hospitals in the state were found not satisfied with their job and looking to switch over to private sector due to reasons like lesser pay scales as compared to private sectors, attractive options offered to doctors in private sector, excessive work load in government hospitals, inconvenience due to facing frequent medico legal complications and waiting in the courts for hours, frequent transfers, chances of posting in remote rural areas, lot of interference by senior officers as well as political leaders in the area, lack of facilities and few others as told by the doctors requested not to disclose their name.
It was observed that many senior doctors including specialists in ENT, skin, gynaecologist and even surgeons are forced to work in double shifts, night duties and even conducting post-mortems, issuing MLRs instead of attending patients in OPD merely working for clerical jobs instead of clinical work due to acute shortage of doctors in government hospitals ranging between 25 to 50%.
Like many government hospitals in Haryana state, civil hospitals in twin city Ambala including newly face-lifted civil hospital Ambala Cantt on which amount worth over Rs 50 crore was spent in recent past having ultra-modern facilities including Cath Lab to treat heart patients, five storey cancer Care Centre under construction, hi-tech laboratories with complete instrumental facilities known as a mini PGI in the state, too need surgery. The number of patients visiting OPD has witnessed drastic increase in past sometime recorded nearly 1500 to 2000 in a day.
According to patients, there is shortage of doctors as well as para-medical staff in twin city civil hospitals as a result they have to stand in long queues for a long time to get registration, prescriptions, medical tests and getting medicines supplied free of cost. The patients told that most of the life saving drug are not available in government hospital and they have to purchase from the market.
Many patients expressed concern wasting lot of time and prefer to visit private hospitals spending huge amount to get rid of inconvenience and unaffordable delay in treatment due to shortage of doctors in civil hospitals and most of the rooms lying closed.
Sources suggest that it is because of lack of infrastructure, as many as 18 senior doctors working in government hospitals in Ambala and 179 doctors across the state submitted their resignation in past sometime for one reason or the other as such Director General Health Services Haryana demanded a report on the working of these doctors and reason for submitting resignation and it was observed that most of them left government jobs due to work load examining between 200 to 300 patients everyday due to shortage of doctors.
Cabinet Health Minister Anil Vij told The Financial World that efforts are being made to fulfil the vacancies in government hospitals in the state but there is shortage of expert doctors and few of those 550 selected by the government failed to join duties. He disclosed that as many as 75 doctors are absent from duty since April 1, 2010 without submitting their resignation, of them few have left the country and settles abroad.
Vij said show-cause notices as per Haryana Civil Medical (Group 1) Services have been sent to them and in case reply not received within 30 days their services would be terminated.
According to information, nearly 27000 doctors are required in Haryana state having population nearly 2.5 crore, but there are nearly 4000 doctors working in government hospitals in the state at present.
Vij said that state government has decided to open new government medical colleges in the state including one at Ambala Cantt to meet the shortage of doctors in the hospitals. He told that admission would be given to youths on the condition to serve in government hospitals in the state. He disclosed that land for proposed medical college at Ambala has been finalized and construction work would commence during this year.
