Staff shortage ails Palwal hospitals

With 224 out of the total 601 posts of various levels lying vacant in the Palwal Health Department, the district has been facing a shortage of doctors, nurses, paramedical and support staff for over a year due to no recruitment for the vacant posts, according to sources.

Besides the 100-bedded civil hospital at the district headquarters, the department runs around 21 health centres, including six community health centres (CHCs) and 15 primary health centres (PHCs) in rural areas of the district.

Of the total 601 sanctioned posts, only 377 are filled at present, resulting in problems related to the delivery of health and medical facilities in government hospitals and health centres.

The vacant posts include those of medical officers (doctors), nurses and laboratory technicians, according to sources in the department. With 25 out of the total 126 posts of medical officers (MO) and six out of the 11 sanctioned posts of senior medical officers (SMO) being vacant, the department is dependent on six SMOs and 121 MOs, according to the available details.

Six out of eight posts of Deputy Civil Surgeon are also waiting to be filled up. As many as 17 posts of staff nurses and 10 out of 13 posts of senior nursing officers have not been filled, according to sources. With 25 posts of pharmacists out of the total required 39, the 16-bedded ICU for new-born babies is also facing similar problems, according to the sources.

Staff crunch forces many of the patients to get referred to other hospitals, an employee said. The patients reporting in the Emergency wards of the hospitals, CHC or PHC are at a receiving end as there is shortage of doctors most of the time, it was claimed.

A majority of the accident cases are referred to other places due to no trauma facilities here. The shortage of technical staff, including radiographers and laboratory attendants has become a daily affair. As many as 20 out of the total 43 posts of laboratory technician are also lying vacant, it was claimed.

Dr Jai Bhagwan Jatain, Civil Surgeon, said the matter was under consideration of the higher authorities and the vacant posts were expected to be filled soon.