Haryana hospitals grappling with shortage of medical officers: Anil Vij
Chandigarh: In response to a query by Congress MLA Jagbir Singh Malik, Haryana's Health Minister Anil Vij disclosed that out of the 4,260 sanctioned medical officer posts in the state, a staggering 1,134 remain unfilled.
The question highlighted the concerns about a potential shortage of specialists and doctors in Haryana. Anil Vij on Tuesday said in the state assembly that at least 26% of posts of medical officers alone are vacant.
The health minister acknowledged that, in the past nine years, 608 medical officers have been appointed to address staffing gaps. However, the persistent vacancies pose challenges to the healthcare system. According to official data, districts like Karnal, Yamunanagar, and Kurukshetra are among those most affected by the shortage, with 61, 54, and 53 vacant doctor positions, respectively. The other districts included Kaithal with a shortage of 49, Bhiwani 48, Fatehabad 47, Hisar 38, Jind and Ambala 35 each, Panipat and Sonepat 17 each, Faridabad 6 and Gurugram 1.
To tackle this issue, Vij announced that the government plans to create a specialist cadre, pending approval from the finance department. Once approved, separate recruitment drives for the specialist and MBBS cadres will be initiated. Despite the existing challenges, an official spokesperson assured that out of the total 5,522 sanctioned doctor positions in the state, 4,016 are currently filled.
However, the persistent 1,506 vacancies underscore the urgency of addressing the healthcare staff shortage to ensure the delivery of quality medical services to the residents of Haryana, reports The Daily.
Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that the Haryana Civil Medical Service (HCMS) Association was demanding the recruitment of more specialist doctors in Government Service by offering them an attractive salary package. The doctors talked about the scarcity of specialist doctors in the State, where half of the posts of specialist doctors were lying vacant till last year.
Highlighting that the work environment was not conducive in Government hospitals, the doctors mentioned how Government doctors were required to attend to several other kinds of non-clinical duties. The association even went on to stage protests airing its concerns.
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