Karnal hospital faces shortage of general surgeons, anaesthetists

Parveen Arora

Karnal, July 4

The Karnal District Hospital is grappling with the shortage of general surgeons and anaesthetists, leading to a long wait for patients requiring surgical procedures. The shortage has resulted in a waiting period of at least one month for operations, causing resentment among patients and their attendants.

long wait for patients

• The surgery department has been facing a shortage of general surgeons for the past three months
• Against the requirement of four surgeons, there are just two — one regular surgeon and one consultant
• Similarly, the hospital has two regular anaesthetists and one from the National Health Mission — one of whom has been on leave.
• The shortage has resulted in a waiting period of at least one month for operations, causing resentment among patients

There is one operation theatre (OT) equipped with two tables and supported by two anaesthetists who provide round-the-clock service, where the surgeries of different departments, including gynaecology, orthopaedics and ENT, besides general surgeries are conducted. Every department has been assigned the tables and days.

The surgery department has been facing the shortage of general surgeons for the past three months. Against the requirement of four surgeons, there are two – one regular surgeon and one consultant. Previously, the hospital had three regular surgeons and one consultant. To manage the workload, both the regular surgeon and the consultant have been allocated two days per week (one day each) to conduct surgeries in the operation theatre. They both conduct 10-12 surgeries in a week, said an official.

Similarly, the hospital has two regular anaesthetists and one from the National Health Mission (NHM), one of whom is on maternity leave. Presently, two of them are providing services to different specialities. Sources in the hospital said there was a need to increase the number of surgeons and anaesthetists to prevent undue delay in surgeries.

Dr Pardeep Chitara, a surgeon, said there were only two surgeons and two anaesthetists and they had limited days in operation theatre to conduct surgeries. “Nearly 40 patients have been scheduled for surgery in July and August,” he said.

He said they give priority to emergency cases and for elective cases such related to gall bladder, hernia and piles, they gave dates.

Dr Piyush Sharma, a consultant and retired Principal Medical Officer (PMO), highlighted the need for more specialists and operating days. “We are providing services to the people coming to us, but there is a need to increase the number of surgeons and anaesthetists. There is also a need to increase the number of operation theatres, so that we could get more days to operate the patients and waiting time could be reduced,” he said. The district authorities are aware of the severity of the issue. Dr Krishan Kumar, Civil Surgeon, acknowledged the shortage of specialists in the surgery and anaesthesia departments and said they had requested the higher authorities to fill the vacant posts. Patients are also feeling the strain due to the shortage of doctors.

Sumita Singh, a former MLA and senior Congress leader, condemned the government failure in ensuring sufficient doctors even in the CM’s city. “The government should ensure better health facilities for patients,” she said.