Ludhiana Civil Hospital lacks full-time medicine specialist for 16 months

Ludhiana: One of Punjab's busiest government healthcare facilities, the Civil Hospital in Ludhiana, has been functioning without a regular full-time Medicine Specialist for the past 16 months, relying on temporary arrangements to manage a daily outpatient load of nearly 1,500 to 2,000 patients.

The staffing gap began in March 2025, when the hospital's lone Medicine Specialist, Dr Amanpreet Kaur, was promoted to the post of District Health and Family Welfare Officer. Since then, the Department of Medicine has continued to operate without a permanent replacement.

According to the report, the 300-bed Civil Hospital has three sanctioned posts for Medicine Specialists. However, experts have reportedly suggested that the number should be increased to six, considering the hospital's high patient volume and workload.

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At present, the hospital's only appointed Medicine Specialist visits once a week on Saturdays, as he has also been assigned additional charge of Faridkot. To maintain services, the hospital has been depending on two empanelled doctors, who provide consultations for three hours daily, along with doctors deputed from Khanna and Machhiwara on additional duty, reports The Tribune.

The absence of a regular specialist has also affected continuity of care for patients requiring follow-up consultations. Several patients told The Daily that they often encounter a different doctor during each visit, making it difficult to discuss treatment progress or maintain consistency in medical management. A patient undergoing diabetes treatment also expressed concern over changes in treating physicians and prescribed medications during follow-up visits.

Medicine Specialists play a key role in diagnosing and managing a broad spectrum of medical conditions and are often the first point of specialist care for patients attending government hospitals. The prolonged dependence on temporary staffing arrangements has therefore raised concerns regarding service continuity at one of the region's busiest public healthcare institutions.

Commenting on the situation, Senior Medical Officer Dr Akhil Sareen said the hospital is continuing patient care with the support of empanelled doctors and physicians holding additional charge from other locations. He added that the Health Department has been regularly writing to higher authorities seeking the appointment of additional medical staff to address the shortage.

The hospital continues to manage its medical services through these interim arrangements while awaiting the appointment of regular specialists.

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