Vacation time at PGI from today

Charu Chhibber

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 6

It’s that time of the year again when things move at a slow pace at the PGI. With over 150 faculty members set to go away on winter vacation from tomorrow, we have a piece of advice for patients.

If you are an outstation patient and not an emergency case but planning to visit the PGI in the coming few weeks, it is better to postpone your visit.

While half of the faculty members of the PGI will be on vacation from December 7 to 21, the remaining half will go on vacation from December 23 to January 6, 2017. 

Besides, many doctors will also be away to attend seminars, workshops and CMEs to keep abreast with the latest techniques and advancements in their field, further reducing the strength of doctors on duty. 

“Though our endeavour remains that no patient should suffer during this period, it is but natural that  with the strength of doctors reduced to half, there is bound to be some inconvenience,” admitted a head of the department. Due to the absence of doctors for such a long duration, surgeries slated for three to four months later have been further postponed.

Being the premiere medical institute of North India, patients from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and even as far as Uttar Pradesh come to the PGI for treatment. 

“In June, the doctor treating me had gone on summer vacation and I made three trips to the PGI in his absence. My neurosurgery was also postponed. But this time round, I’m prepared and have planned my post-surgery review visits after he is back from his winter vacation,” said a patient from Kullu in Himachal Pradesh. 

“The worst affected by doctors’ vacation are outstation patients. Many patients, who have been under treatment, face a lot of inconvenience when the doctor treating them is away on leave,” said an official of the PGI, adding that in case something serious happens to a patient, who has undergone surgery or is being treated by a particular doctor, others are reluctant to take up the case. However, all emergency cases are taken care of immediately.

With senior doctors on leave, the onus of taking care of patients invariably falls on senior and junior resident doctors who are already overburdened with OPDs, ward and emergency duties. A senior faculty member said the practice of the winter and summer vacation was being followed by colleges all over India. “So there is nothing new this year. We have made all arrangements to ensure that patients don’t suffer due to our vacation,” he said. 

Meanwhile, the PGI public relations office said all surgeries were planned in advance and more than 1,200 resident doctors were on duty 

for the patients during the vacation of faculty members. Moreover, no teaching was done during the vacation which ensured that the existing doctors could devote full time to patients during this period.