Health Minister K Muraleedharan Hits Back at Doctors Opposing 24-Hour Specialty Services

Thiruvananthapuram: Health Minister K Muraleedharan has hit back at doctors protesting the government’s decision to introduce 24-hour specialty services at district and general hospitals without filling existing vacancies. Muraleedharan said the doctors should provide the details of the vacancies themselves and that he need not learn about them by reading newspapers. He also said the government would not back down from the decision.

The minister made the sharp remarks when asked about the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA)’s statement that implementing the decision amid staff shortages would create a major crisis.

There has been widespread criticism of the Health Department’s move to implement the project by deploying existing doctors instead of appointing sufficient new doctors. The plan was initially announced for implementation at the Punalur Taluk Hospital, but it failed to take off. Ten of the 11 doctors assigned to the hospital did not join duty. Health Department employees are strongly protesting the announcement, which seeks to implement the project without filling vacancies or creating new posts.

A similar order to introduce specialty treatment was issued in 2002 during the UDF government’s tenure. The plan was intended for government hospitals with more than 100 beds, but it could not progress because there were not enough doctors with specialty qualifications.

At present, there are more than 800 vacancies for doctors in the state Health Department. There are 300 vacancies in the specialty cadre alone. The general cadre has 476 vacancies, while the administrative cadre has 24. Many specialties at district and general hospitals have only three or four specialist doctors. Emergency departments also do not have enough doctors. Specialists who work emergency shifts at night are required to handle OP, IP and operation theatre duties during the day that follows. Promotions have not been made to fill more than 250 vacancies. Although a special committee was formed for this purpose, no action has been taken.

Instead of carrying out promotions and creating junior consultant posts, the Health Department is deploying doctors from primary and community health centres. This is likely to result in denial of treatment, including in rural areas. There are also complaints that assigning doctors to specialty wings will disrupt the outpatient system at district and general hospitals.