PMSA demand to increase doctors’ posts hits roadblock

LUCKNOW: The Provincial Medical Services Association (PMSA) demand to increase the number of government doctors’ posts seems to have hit a roadblock as the health

LUCKNOW: The Provincial Medical Services Association (PMSA) demand to increase the number of government doctors’ posts seems to have hit a roadblock as the health department has indicated that rather than increasing the sanctioned posts of doctors its priority was to fill up vacancies of doctors.

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A PMSA delegation had handed over a memorandum to health minister Jai Pratap Singh on Thursday demanding increase in the number of sanctioned posts of the government doctors from 18,000 to 33,000. The office bearers of the association told the minister that during cadre review of the Provincial Medical Services (PMS) in 2004, the sanctioned posts of the government doctors was 18,000.

“The population of the state has increased to 22 crore and there is need to revise the sanctioned posts to implement the norms fixed under Indian Public Health Standard (IPHS) for primary health centres, community health centres and district hospitals,” said PMSA president Dr Sachin Vaishya.

The doctors are working under immense pressure in government hospitals. Along with examining patients, they have to do other duties entrusted by the department. Government doctors are providing round the clock service in the hospitals. There is need to increase the sanctioned posts of doctors to provide quality service to patients, he said.

Reacting to the PMSA demand, a health department officer said that out of the 18,000 sanctioned posts of PMS doctors 6,000 were lying vacant. To fill up the vacant posts, the health department hired 1,700 doctors on contract. The department has urged the UP Public Service Commission to fill up the sanctioned posts on a priority basis, yet the posts remained vacant due to shortage of qualified doctors in the state, he added.

Rather than increasing the sanctioned posts of doctors our priority is to fill up the vacant posts. The department has decided to issue notice to 280 government doctors who have not joined service after receiving the appointment letter or are absent after joining. If the doctors fail to join duty, the department will terminate their service and declare the posts vacant, he said.

The dilemma of the department is that if the strength of the sanctioned posts was increased, the number of vacant posts will also increase. Under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, patients can get treatment in private hospitals. The combo of government and private hospitals is providing sufficient service to patients across the state, he said.

The PMSA had urged the state government to improve the working conditions to motivate doctors to join the services. The doctors posted in the districts should be provided housing facility, security and facilities provided to other government servants, Dr Vaishya said.

The PMSA had also urged the state government to ensure that government doctors get promotion on schedule, he said.