Gynaecology dept at Karnal Civil Hospital gets six LMOs, but no specialist
Parveen Arora
Karnal, September 14
The department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Civil Hospital has got six new Lady Medical Officers (LMOs), increasing the number to eight, but the department is still facing a shortage of gynaecology specialists.
The LMOs are responsible for everything, including medical assistance at the OPD and the IPD, deliveries, hospital board cases, medico-legal cases, postpartum, and routine medical examination. Earlier, a gynaecologist was deputed for 14 days, but the position is now lying vacant.
An official said, “In the absence of the specialists, high-risk cases and the cases of C-section deliveries are referred to the Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College (KCGMC). Only normal deliveries are being carried out here.”
In the new recruitment of medical officers, the District Civil Hospital has received 16 medical officers, of them six LMOs have been posted at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, which was grappling with an acute shortage of staff members.
“During her pregnancy, my wife had been receiving treatment at the Civil Hospital, but when it was time for the delivery, I was asked to take my wife to the KCGMC for a C-section. But the doctors there delivered the baby by following the procedure of a normal delivery”, said Sagar, a local resident.
The data collected by The Tribune revealed that the inflow of patients has increased manifold at the Civil Hospital, but the number of specialists has not increased. As per requirement, a minimum of three more specialists are required at the hospital, but the posts are lying vacant.
As per record, the OPD of the gynaecology unit witnesses about 150 patients daily, and on an average, 200 deliveries are carried out here, every month.
Dr Piyush Sharma, principal medical officer (PMO) said, “We have already sent a request to fill the vacant posts of gynaecology specialists. Besides, we have also approached private practitioners for conducting C-section delivery procedures, as per the policy of the National Health Mission. We offered them remuneration on the basis of the case, but nobody showed interest.”
