Kapurthala: Doctors’ shortage hits emergency services

If you are unwell and visit the Community Health Centre (CHC) at Tibba near here around 6 pm, you are likely to come across a hoarding stating that no emergency services are available in the evening and night hours.

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The health centre, which has 10 sanctioned posts, currently has only two doctors on duty. Until January this year, six doctors were posted here, enabling the centre to function round-the-clock in three shifts.

However, four Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) doctors who had applied for PG studies secured admission and left to pursue MD courses. This has left only two doctors at the centre, both of whom report at 8 am and work two additional hours daily till 4 pm. The routine summer timings are from 8 am to 2 pm.

The centre does not shut after 4 pm. The nursing and Class IV staff remain on duty round-the-clock, but there are no doctors available to attend to patients. The staff typically refers serious cases to the Civil Hospital in Kapurthala, about 20 km away, or to the Civil Hospital in Sultanpur Lodhi, around 14 km from the CHC.

The Tibba CHC caters to nearly 1 lakh people from 170 villages in Kapurthala and Sultanpur Lodhi. Gurbaksh Singh, a resident of Sujo Kalia village, said, “I had a severe indigestion issue last week. My son took me to Tibba. We reached there around 7 pm only to find that no doctor was available. The only option for me was to seek help from an Registered Medical Practitioner running a medicine store. Thankfully, it helped, or else we would have been in big trouble at night.”

The situation at other Community Health Centres in Kapurthala, including those at Fattu Dhinga and Kala Sanghian, is no different. These centres are also reeling under a staff crunch. Emergency services at these facilities too have been adversely impacted. Doctors said that out of nearly 8,000 sanctioned posts of doctors across Punjab, only about 50 per cent are currently filled, leading to such situations.

Senior Medical Officer at Tibba, Dr Sarbarinder Singh Sethi, said, “The two doctors at our centre are already overworked. They do not get any weekly off. They work on Sundays and all government holidays. I have already informed the higher authorities about the problem, and they have assured that steps are being taken to provide more staff soon.”

Officiating Civil Surgeon Kapurthala, Dr Rajeev Prashar, said, “Every year, when doctors leave their postings for higher studies, we face this crisis. To tackle the situation, the government has advertised 1,000 posts of doctors. The recruitment process is set to begin soon through Baba Farid University of Health Sciences and we are expecting some relief in the coming months.”