Dearth of specialists to operate ventilators in Punjab

Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, May 9

The worsening Covid-19 situation has exposed the shortage of specialists in the state to handle life-saving ventilators. Consequently, the government, owing to lack of manpower, had to hand over the ventilators to private Covid facilities.

In fact, successive state governments, turning a blind eye towards the health sector, neither added new medical colleges nor could enhance PG seats in the existing colleges for decades.

Notably, only 65 anaesthetists, who are supposed to work in intensive care units and manage ventilators, graduate in Punjab every year. Of these, 28 are produced from three government medical colleges. It has been learnt that due to shortage of qualified workforce, the ventilators either are gathering dust or are being handled by the less-experienced professionals. Around 120 posts of anaesthetists are lying vacant in the state.

Health experts said the Covid situation, owing to limited PG seats, had shown that the state lacked specialist doctors while neighbouring states were performing better. The experts said the government was focused on purchasing ventilators and other medical equipment, but no one bothered to hire manpower to run them.

Dr Harshinder Kaur, professor, GMC, Patiala, said, “One post of professor can make the college eligible for three PG seats, while an associate professor can enhance one PG seat. If the government had timely promoted the faculty to professors and associates, the colleges would have had enough PG seats.”