No paediatrician in Nurpur Civil Hospital for over a year

The 200-bed Civil Hospital in Nurpur is facing a shortage of doctors. A post of paediatrician has been lying vacant in the hospital for the past over one and a half year, making risky institutional deliveries being conducted by the gynaecologist without proper neonatal care and endangering both mothers and newborn.

According to Medical Superintendent Dr Anupama Sharma, the Civil Hospital has 34 sanctioned posts of doctor. “At present, the hospital has 21 doctors, including 10 medical specialists. A post of paediatrician has been lying vacant for the past one and half year,” she adds

The Health and Family Welfare Department had in April this year posted a paediatrician and a radiologist in this Civil Hospital but they did not join duty.

The department yesterday transferred and posted a paediatrician and a microbiologist in the Civil Hospital. They are yet to join duty. The department transferred 41 medical specialists, most of them from Government Medical College, Nerchowk in Mandi, to different civil hospitals of the state. However, two medical specialists, a dermatologist and an ophthalmologist, who were transferred to the hospital on September 18, have joined duty.

The department had issued transfer and posting orders On September 18 following the appointment of 115 medical specialists, who had completed their post-graduation while serving as medical officers in civil hospitals. A dermatologist, an ophthalmologist and a pathologist were posted in the Nurpur Civil Hospital.

The local hospital caters to the medical needs of the people of the lower Kangra belt covering Nurpur, Jawali, Indora and Fatehpur constituencies as well as Bhatiyat in neighbouring Chamba district. To strengthen health care facilities in the hospital, there is need to establish a blood bank to equip the operating theatre and make the idle oxygen generating plant and the 50-bed Mother and Child Hospital operational.

Medical specialists have been reluctant to join duty at civil hospitals after being transferred from government medical colleges, leading to severe understaffing in several key health institutions and leaving patients in distress. Many junior doctors, after completing their Senior Residency in medical colleges, prefer to continue working there instead of joining duty at peripheral health institutions.

As per official sources, the Health Department has now started deploying doctors, who have completed Senior Residency, in civil hospitals. They usually prefer to stay in medical colleges while awaiting the faculty position of Assistant Professor. They are being mandatorily transferred to civil hospitals to strengthen specialty health care facilities there. It is expected that specialist doctors will now join duty at the health institution of their posting.

Medical officers working in civil hospitals in the lower Kangra region say that this decision of the Health Department will not only strengthen specialty health care services in peripheral institutions but also reduce over-dependence on medical colleges for specialty medical care. By posting Senior Residents and those designated for the posts of Assistant Professor in civil hospitals, the department hopes to bridge the critical gap in the availability of medical specialists and improve patient care in underserved regions.