RTI reveals over 140 faculty vacancies at RML Hospital, Lady hardinge medical college

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According to the RTI data, the faculty shortfall at RML Hospital is concentrated in core clinical departments that handle patient loads. For instance, a total of 27 posts are vacant in the medicine department alone, the Times of India has reported. Five posts in the paediatrics department and three posts in the anaesthesia department are also vacant.

Doctors opined that even limited shortages in these specialties can have a disproportionate impact on the outpatient departments, emergency services and inpatient care due to the sustained daily inflow of patients.

While the core clinical departments are operating with severe faculty shortage, official data shows that a few departments at RML Hospital are functioning with faculty numbers that exceed the sanctioned strength. For instance, four faculty members are working in the Orthopaedics department against two sanctioned posts. Even though only three posts are sanctioned in the Community Medicine department, five faculty members are working there. The pathology Department has seven faculty members against four sanctioned posts.

Commenting on the vacant posts, an official from RML Hospital said that patient care and teaching are shared across multiple categories of doctors, including teaching and non-teaching faculty, general duty medical officers and junior and senior residents. The official further added, "In addition, Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University has granted teaching equivalence to certain non-teaching doctors who undertake academic responsibilities. Faculty under the teaching cadre are posted by the Union Health Ministry and recruited through UPSC, not by the hospital. Requests for filling vacant posts — on a regular or contractual basis — are sent to the ministry, and recruitment is a continuous process."

While LHMC has not provided a department-wise breakup of vacancies, the officials at the institute said that the overall deficit amounts to roughly one-fifth of its sanctioned teaching strength. Faculty members highlighted that persistent gaps increase workload for the existing staff, affecting patient care, postgraduate teaching, research supervision and examination duties.

Officials at the institute added that patient care and teaching services get invariably disrupted with vacancies exceeding 10%. Even though recruitment is underway through UPSC across more than 20 departments, faculty retention remains a challenge as doctors often opt for better-paying corporate hospitals or move to institutes such as AIIMS.

Commenting on the matter, the RTI activist who obtained the data stressed on the importance of filling up the posts, while highlighting that vacant faculty positions are indirectly affecting patient care and teaching standards.

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