Staff crunch hits services at Faridabad Civil Hospital

Tribune News Service

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, April 14

The shortage of doctors continues to affect services at the Faridabad Civil Hospital, with its emergency/casualty wing being operated with less than half of the sanctioned staff. The 200-bed hospital attends to a large number of daily patients from the city and nearby areas.

No radiologist, forensic expert at facility

• Shortage of staff like General Duty Assistant (GDA) has also hit services
• Transfer of forensic expert has led to a crisis regarding autopsies
• No radiologist has been recruited for the past one year and patients have to visit private centres, where the charges are not affordable

Patients in the emergency have been at the receiving end due to the shortage of doctors. The wing has only four doctors against sanctioned nine doctors. During a shift, there is only one doctor in the wing, while according to the norms, there should be at least two doctors in any shift.

The problem becomes acute at night when specialist physicians are not available for treating or examining patients during emergency. Recently, the Principal Medical Officer (PMO) had to attend to patients in the emergency wing as the only doctor on duty had fallen sick. The transfer of forensic expert has also led to a crisis regarding post-mortem examinations here.

The shortage of helping staff like the General Duty Assistant (GDA) has also been a cause of concern, said an employee of the hospital. He added that the availability of only a single GDA makes it difficult to run the department.

As many as 100 patients visit the emergency wing daily, while the hospital attends to over 2,200 daily patients in its OPD. The hospital has only 45 doctors against the sanctioned strength of 55 doctors in all departments, according to sources.

It has been learnt that after some doctors resigned or got transferred in the past few years, the vacant posts were not filled. With no doctor of medicine specialisation, the patients are attended by chest specialists. No radiologist has been recruited for the past one year and patients have to visit private centres, where the charges are high and not affordable for everyone.

The scarcity of medicines is another issue at the hospital, as 30 to 35 per cent “necessary” medicines are unavailable to patients, said Satish Chopra, an activist.

PMO Dr Savita Yadav said issues, including staff crunch, were being dealt with as per the policy and guidelines of the department.

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