Telangana DME extends Duty Hours for Doctors, faces flak

Issuing instructions in this regard, the State DME extended the duty hours of doctors and mentioned, "The daily outpatient should start at 9 AM and continue till last patient is seen and in General and Maternity Hospitals evening clinics from 4 PM to 6 PM should be started on all working days."

Among other orders, the DME directed to start issuing out patient slip from 7.30 AM, ensure that blood investigations ordered in the morning are ready the same day and treatment is being prescribed in the evening clinics after reviewing the reports. Besides, the DME instructed that the lab sample collection and report issue counter should be functional during the OP timings. 

Issuing the circular, the State DME directed all the superintendents to immediately implement the instructions.

However, HRDA criticized the order as it claimed that the circular was nothing but a "public stunt" by Health officials. The association also claimed that such an order extending the duty hours violated the G.O Ms No 816 which defines the duty hours from 9am to 4pm.

While sharing the DME circular on Twitter, the association also included another order issued by Telangana Health Department which recently decided to withdraw 357 posts of Tutors. Referring to the condition of the government medical facilities, which are running without the required infrastructure, the association claimed, "Shelved specialists recruitment in medical colleges, existing shortage of faculty, no allowances, no stipend for residents on par with AIIMS/NIMS, no integrated laboratory information system(LIS) to dispatch daily reports."

It has been claimed by the association that there is not even necessary infrastructure for taking print outs of reports.

Also Read: Exorbitant Fees charged for Registration of Medical Degrees in Telangana: Doctors write to State Medical Council