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Doc shortage hits JJ surgeries
Forty per cent drop in operations as manpower problems dog Mumbai's JJ Group of Hospitals, reports Anjali Doshi.
A severe shortage of anaesthetists has forced the JJ Group of Hospitals to cut down on the number of surgeries it carries out every day by about 40 per cent.
Of the 13 lecturers’ posts reserved for anaesthetists across the group’s four hospitals, eight are vacant. Three lecturers resigned in the last month; two others are likely to quit over the coming month.
“For any surgery, a professor or associate professor, and a lecturer must be present,” a source in the department, who declined to be named, told HT. “But we often have to make do with resident doctors.”
Several resident doctors said they are made the scapegoats if anything goes wrong during a surgery. The allegations could not be independently confirmed.
Between JJ, St George, GT and Cama — the four state hospitals in Mumbai — 75-80 surgeries are supposed to be performed each day. However, the shortage of qualified professionals and resident doctors means less than 50 surgeries actually take place. Besides, resident doctors are also in short supply: only 44 of the 75 posts are filled.
In comparison, the BMC-run KEM Hospital has 38 lecturers and 85 resident doctors in the anaesthesia department alone.
Sources in JJ said the staffing problem is compounded by the fact that private hospitals like Wockhardt pay doctors around Rs 30,000 — 33 per cent more than JJ. “We can’t do anything to stop them from taking up better opportunities.” said Dr GS Sarate, head of JJ’s anaesthesia department.
“We recently put out a job ad,” JJ Hospital dean Dr Pravin Shingare told HT. “But it is taking time to fill these posts.” Requests to the medical education department to temporarily transfer anaesthetists from medical colleges in Yavatmal, Akola or Latur have not been considered.
Meanwhile, patients at the four hospitals continue to suffer as elective surgeries are postponed and only emergency surgeries are performed. “We’re doing whatever we can but we have to keep turning patients away,” a resident doctor in the plastic surgery department said.
