More doctors than patients at Government Rajindra Hospital, Patiala

Karam Prakash

Patiala, July 6

A data of 11 months revealed that nearly 720 doctors and 225 MBBS interns attended to an average of 800 OPD and 130 IPD patients per day at Government Rajindra Hospital. Of the 720 doctors, 187 are senior faculty members, 390 junior resident doctors and 150 senior resident doctors.

When most government health institutes have been facing severe shortage of doctors, the Government Rajindra Hospital reportedly remains overstaffed. Given the number of doctors, there are more health specialists than patients at this hospital.

The hospital data revealed that around 2.24 lakh patients registered for the OPD from January 1 to November 31 last year. During the same period, the IPD count was 34,535.

Despite sufficient manpower, better healthcare was still beyond the reach of poor patients, said the experts.

A of farmer who visited the Government Rajindra Hospital said, “There is a waiting period of more than two months for a knee replacement. Doctors have not performed my surgery to date. Besides, there’s delay in diagnostic tests at the hospital.”

Meanwhile, many private hospitals had been running all the departments with half the manpower available at the Government Rajindra Hospital. Health experts said lack of monitoring by the state government has led to this scenario, besides many doctors were indulging in private practice.

When questioned about the hospital being overstaffed, Dr Harjinder Singh, Director Principal, Government Medical College and Hospital, said non-clinical department doctors – included in the faculty – do not attend to patients. He said, “The patient footfall has declined after the Covid-19 pandemic. Every doctor at the hospital is working hard to provide best healthcare services to patients.”

Low footfall

The patient footfall has seen a decline, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. Non-clinical department doctors do not attend to patients. — Dr Harjinder Singh, Director-Principal, GMCH