Private practice during duty hours: Karnataka Govt mulls to Geo-Tag Govt Doctors

Mysuru: In a move against government doctors involved in private practice, the Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Medical Education, K. Sudhakar said that the Karnataka government is planning to take strict action against such doctors if they continue to remain absent and do not report to duty on time. 

The minister, while speaking after chairing a two-day divisional-level progress review meeting of the Health and Medical Education Department in Mysuru, said, "I have received complaints from the deans and directors of medical colleges in Mysuru division that some doctors arrive late to their duties, affecting the functioning of the hospitals. This lapse cannot be tolerated. I have asked for biometric attendance for doctors and others in all medical colleges thrice a day. I am even considering introducing geotagging for doctors to ensure their availability in hospitals."

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He said, "I'm not against private consultation by the government doctors. If doctors do not improve their performance and report to their duties in time, curbs can be imposed on their private practice as being done in some States. If they want to carry out private consultation, it can be done in our hospitals after their duty hours."  

He said, "A few of the doctors think that there is no replacement for them as it is hard to get experts for certain specialties. However, this is a wrong notion. We want to send a message to the erring doctors that all the options are kept open and we should not be forced to take up extreme steps." 

The minister observed that they would provide an alternative plan to government doctors to make up for the loss in private practice by allowing them to practice at medical colleges after their duty hours, as per a media report in the Bangalore Mirror. He said, "So if those doctors want to continue to work beyond 4 pm at a private facility, we may give them the option to work in our medical colleges as such a provision exists under the Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka scheme. However, this is only at a discussion stage and no final decision has been arrived yet." 

He mentioned that around 10-15% of doctors working at the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI) report late to their duty, as per the information he received during the review meeting, reports the Hindu. 

Stating that doctors cannot ignore their duties in the parent department, the minister warned that the private consultation by the doctors should not affect the patients who come for treatment in the medical colleges. The minister said that the government would be forced to take an action if the doctors do not understand the seriousness of the issue and correct themselves. 

Further, responding to a question of whether the government's action would create a shortage of specialists in government hospitals, the minister said that times have changed, adding that there is no shortage of doctors now and they would be receiving a large number of applications if they issue a recruitment notification. 

Speaking about this recent announcement, Dr Chimanyee Gowda, ex-women's in-charge at Federation of All India Medical Association told The New Indian Express, "all doctors cannot be made to face the consequences of wrongdoing of a few doctors. Though the duty of doctors is to serve the nation, geo-tagging will be an invasion into privacy." Gowda added that the pay scale for government doctors is less due to which doctors are attracted towards private practice. She said that the government's decision would already result in the shortage of an already low working force in government setups. 

Stating that only few doctors break the norm, Tejas S, President of the Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors (KARD) said, "In Karnataka, government doctors are underpaid, and hence, some doctors work in private clinics after their duty hours. Complete ban on doctors will not be helpful."

Around twenty states in the country have reportedly banned the private practice by government doctors. However, private practice is allowed in a few states like Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Kerala after their working hours. 

Meanwhile, the minister said that they would be introducing 'Critical Care' courses in every college in addition to dialysis technicians' courses. He said, "All the medical colleges have been asked to set up sewage and effluent treatment plants and biomedical waste needs to be scientifically disposed of," adding, "We need to give more thrust on research and hence the colleges and the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) will be encouraged to tie up with foreign universities and colleges so that we can encourage more of lecturers and students to present international-level presentation papers."

He also observed that it is the government's goal to make Karnataka Tuberculosis-free by 2025. Further, he added that the deans of medical colleges have been directed to hold review meetings of heads of various departments every Friday to ensure the poor are given good treatment and are served well. 

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