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In effort to retain specialists, Punjab health dept mulls ‘Pay Clinics’
Under this, a specialist or super-specialist will have the option to see patients outside his/her working hours and charge a fee which will be divided among the staff and the govt facility
Not able to sustain specialists and super-specialists due to low pay perks, the Punjab health department is mulling the idea of a ‘Pay Clinic’ system wherein the specialists will get the option to do ‘private practice’ at the government facilities under a formula in which fee charged by the doctor will be shared among specialists, supporting staff and facilities.
As per the idea mooted by the health department, a doctor can start a ‘Pay Clinic’ after duty hours and can charge fees from the patients.
According to information gathered from the department, this ‘Pay Clinic’ system is likely to be introduced in the coming months, for which the modalities have already been cleared.
Health and family welfare minister Dr Balbir Singh, in an interaction with Hindustan Times, earlier this week had also shared that the department was going to start the ‘Pay Clinic’ system which has been adopted by various states to sustain the specialists and super-specialists.
“It’s a fact that specialists and super specialists many times don’t prefer government jobs as they have the option of earning much more in the private sector. The department was going to do the experiment wherein the specialists and super-specialists will get the option of seeing patients in their overtime which will be like their own practice,” said the health minister.
The modalities finalised by the department reveal that under the formula the fee charged by the doctor will be shared among the doctor, staff and the government facility will be in the ratio of 40:20:40.
The doctor will take 40% of the fee, with staff getting 20% of the share. The government facility will get the rest of the amount.
“Through this, the doctors can generate extra income for themselves as well as the staff and the government facilities and earn better. The experiment may help to attract more specialists and super-specialists and sustain them in the government services,” a senior health official claimed.
According to data given by the Union health ministry in the Parliament in February this year, rural healthcare facilities in Punjab are reeling under a severe shortage of specialist doctors, including paediatricians, surgeons, obstetricians, gynaecologists and general physicians.
With the Punjab health department’s efforts to recruit specialist doctors through walk-in interviews not yielding results, the department even mulled forming a special cadre for specialists in the government job.
In the last advertisement for the posts for specialists released by the Punjab government in November last year, only 592 applied for the job against 634 posts.
Official records accessed by HT reveal that in this recruitment, 271 joined against 634 posts and out of this several have already resigned.
Dr Akhil Sarin, state president of the Punjab civil medical services (PCMS) association, said expansion of healthcare services in any form is a welcome step.
“However, currently, owing to an acute shortage of emergency medical officers (EMOs), the specialists are being engaged in the general emergency, post-mortem, VVIP duties and court duties and are thus able to provide only a limited number of days as dedicated specialists. Addressing this core issue by liberally recruiting EMOs and thereby streamlining the specialist services during regular duty hours first is a pre-requisite to their expansion beyond duty hours,” said Sarin.
