With the Commonwealth Games just round the corner, the Capital's hospitals are facing an acute shortage of doctors, according to a Right to Information (RTI) response provided by the Delhi Government.
“With the Games only about 40 days away and the Capital facing its worst dengue outbreak in five years, we want the Delhi Government to tell us just how they plan to provide doctors to ensure that enough medical staff is available to take care of the additional pressure that would be put on them during the Games,” said Aashutosh Jha of Digvijay Yagya, the non-governmental organisation that filed the RTI.
The RTI response said that in 31 hospitals there are 1,228 posts of general duty medical officers and only 917 posts have been filled so far.
Further it said that of the 500 posts of non-teaching and teaching specialist doctors, only 250 have been filled.
“The Delhi Government hospitals are facing the biggest shortage of doctors and the Department seems to be taking no concrete steps to fill these vacant posts. As of now, the number of doctors under the Central Health Services (CHS) and non-CHS are not sufficient to handle the health issues of the city and the upcoming Commonwealth Games,'' noted Mr. Jha.
In 1996, the Delhi Government had ordered immediate recruitment of general duty medical officers under the teaching and non-teaching cadre by forming the Delhi Health Cadre temporarily.
“But the Delhi Government is yet to form any such health cadre. Also, as announced in 2006, the Delhi Government was supposed to incorporate CHS and non-CHS under the Delhi Health Cadre. However, the Delhi Government never initiated any discussion with the doctors on this issue,'' noted a release issued by the NGO.
“The State Health Department has to understand that in case doctors are not appointed with immediate effect, the Capital is setting itself up to face a big challenge in the coming days. Besides the Games, the population of the city is also on the rise at an alarming rate. So it would be appropriate to suggest that we require more doctors than what we have now,” said the NGO.
