34 PGI faculty doctor await a room of their own

Lack of office space keeps the PGIMER doctors from examining their patients after the out-patient department (OPD) timings or properly focus on their research work.

Juggling between clinical, administrative and research tasks, a bunch of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) faculty doctors have again voiced the need for dedicated office space to help streamline their work.

As many as 34 PGI faculty doctor are awaiting an office of their own. (HT File)

As many as 34 faculty doctors of the primer institute, who have been working for as long as three years now, do not have offices — which also keeps them from examining their patients after the out-patient department (OPD) timings or properly focus on their research work.

Speaking about the daily ordeal, PGIMER faculty association president JS Thakur said, “Every faculty doctor in the institute deserves the office space to do administrative, clinical and research work. At present, PGIMER has around 550 faculty doctors across departments, but as many as 34 of them do not have their offices. Since OPD rooms are also not the dedicated rooms of the doctors, they have nowhere to sit in the hospital premises to complete their work”, said

“This is a long pending demand as these doctors are without the office for over two-three years now. PGIMER regularly recruits new faculty but does not have space to accommodate them. We have taken this matter to the PGIMER director and authorities several times, but nothing is being done,” he added.

An associate professor who has been working at the institute for the past three years without an office lamented the lack of dedicated space, saying, “After attending to the patients in OPDs, the faculty doctors go to the wards and the assigned duty areas. Besides clinical duties, the doctors have the duty to conduct research work, which they prefer to do in their personal spaces in the offices. But, the young faculty doctors and the new recruits in faculty do not have their offices, which is hampering their research.”

The doctor, who did not wish to be named, added that the doctors do not even have a space to have their meals and take a break even amid 20-hour shifts.

“The rooms can be adjusted if the authorities wish but the top officials believe that faculty doctors can share rooms within their department colleagues, which is not possible in the overcrowded hospital,” the doctor said.

Addressing the issue, PGIMER director Vivek Lal said, “PGIMER is doing its best to get offices for the faculty members. Porta Cabins are being built where we are short of space but in the past six months, 30 faculty have got offices. We are creating space for more.”