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Facing heat, doctor at AIIMS-Patna says private practice rampant among peers
Doctors at AIIMS are not allowed to practice privately. They get non-practising allowance (NPA), which is generally 20% of their basic salary.
A doctor at Patna’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), facing charges of private practice, has denied the allegations and blamed the institute for selectively targeting him when many doctors were also doing the same.
Doctors at AIIMS are not allowed to practice privately. They get non-practising allowance (NPA), which is generally 20% of their basic salary.
Dr Shantam Mohan, assistant professor in the department of gastroenterology, has denied charges of unethical practice and laxity in work, after the AIIMS administration issued him a show-cause notice on March 13.
While defending himself, Dr Mohan said: “There are many doctors at AIIMS who do private practice. I don’t.”
“There are some doctors who do not even come to the institute regularly. All such suspects should have been issued show-cause notices. I have been selectively targeted because someone’s ego has been hurt as I do not pander to the powers that be. I diligently go for duty every working day at around 10am (the OPD registration is from 8am to 2pm),” said Dr Mohan.
“Some doctors who did private practice have left the institute recently. There are others who still work at the institute and are currently into private practice. I have evidence against a few such doctors in terms of their private prescription and admission by patients, who used to consult them earlier,” he added.
He did not name any of the doctors.
Dr Mohan acknowledged that he used to practice privately before joining the AIIMS-Patna as an assistant professor on August 3, 2018.
“The private clinic, where I used to practice, is currently run by my sister-in-law and I am not associated with it anymore,” he said.
Dr Mohan had failed to turn up before a committee of senior faculty members, after the director convened a meeting, following a complaint against him by Dr Ramesh Kumar, associate professor and head, department of gastroenterology.
“I was communicated about the meeting, convened at a short notice, through e-mail, which I could not check in time. However, I responded to the show-cause notice in around 30 hours of having received it, denying all the charges levelled against me,” said Dr Mohan.
Dr Kumar had complained to the director about Dr Mohan’s alleged misconduct, compromising the institute’s work culture because of his late coming and reluctance to shoulder responsibility.
Dr Mohan had earlier resigned from AIIMS during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in July, last year, only to take back his resignation after a month.
“My friends advised me to complete three years as an assistant professor, which will make me eligible to apply as an associate professor in a government medical college sometime later. I’ll resign again on May 2 or 3 so that by the time I serve my three months’ notice period, I complete my term of three years as an assistant professor,” he said.
In January, the gastroenterology department at AIIMS had initiated a three-year doctorate in medicine (DM) programme, with a student each having joined from New Delhi and West Bengal. The department is already handicapped, with only two faculty members, which is half its sanctioned faculty strength.
Dr Ramesh Kumar said he was not authorised to speak to the media.
“We have issued a show-cause notice to Dr Mohan because he is not very regular in work. He didn’t even come for the meeting, which I convened recently. We will first try and counsel and then see what is to be done about him,” said Dr Prabhat Kumar Singh, AIIMS-Patna director.
Responding to allegations of private practice being rampant among doctors at AIIMS, Dr Singh said, “This is a sweeping allegation. I don’t deny the fact that there may be 3 or 5 doctors at our institute who indulge in private practice, but I’m determined to weed them out. We will act against them as soon as we get any complaint or an iota of evidence. I will not allow the AIIMS work culture to suffer and our image dented.”
