UP Govt new PMHS rules allow MBBS doctors, specialists to be posted in their home district

Lucknow: To augment the health sector in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government has revised service rules of PMHS for the direct recruitment of Specialist doctors as a long-term solution.

This is the first time in the history of the state that Specialists are recruited directly and it is probably the first time wherein single recruitment more than 1200 Specialists were recruited from across the country, officials here on Tuesday said.

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The outbreak of COVID-19 had suddenly put pressure on the health system to rapidly 'scale-up health services like never before. Although the Covid management by the state has won accolades across the globe, there was still a need of providing skilled care by specialist doctors that will further improve health outcomes like maternal and neonatal mortality. District and medical college hospitals suffer shortages of specialist doctors and support staff during the pandemic, they added.

The health of the women, children, and elderly is paramount to Yogi Government. Though Specialist doctors' posts were created earlier, direct recruitment of Specialist doctors was not possible as the service rules only required MBBS as the minimum qualification.

This led to a situation of about 80 per cent vacancies in specialist doctors' with Community Health Centres in UP affected the most. The Government took a step for the direct recruitment of Specialists' in the PMHS cadre is a long-term solution.

The Council of Ministers approved the revised service rules of PMHS (Provincial Medical Health Services) doctors cadre titled 'The Uttar Pradesh Medical and Health Service Rules, 2020'.

The updated service rules will enable the recruitment of a total of 8431 specialists in 15 Specialties (Gynecologist, Anesthetists, Pediatricians, General Surgeons, and Physicians) among others in a targeted manner directly at Level 2 (L2 level) through UP Public Service Commission (UPPSC) providing incentives for Specialists to join.

The requisition for such positions explicitly mentions the specific specialty doctor required – like Gynecologists, Anesthetists, etc which was not possible in the earlier service rules.

In addition to this, the new service rules allow doctors – both MBBS and specialists to be posted in their home district except for administrative posts and those posts located at the District Headquarters. This will enhance the availability of doctors and specialists in remote and/or rural areas and also increase the motivation of doctors to join and serve in UP medical and health services.

The government has also designated 417 First Referral Units (FRUs) covering at least one FRU per tehsil and will post 5 specialists – Gynecologist, Anesthetist, Pediatrician, General Surgeon, and Physician by this recruitment process. This will ensure that critical life-saving service are available at CHCs closer to the people.

UP Public service commission has published a list of 1200+ specialists based on the requisition sent by the department. Of which, on November 21, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath handed over appointment letters to 310 specialist doctors selected from the Public Service Commission. The recruitment process of others is in progress.

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