Mumbai civic body asks for list of 100 doctors who avoided transfers

According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC), doctors at 16 hospitals have worked in the same place for more than two decades

More than 100 municipal doctors who defied rules that require them to be transferred every three years, will be given new postings. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) health department, doctors at 16 hospitals have worked in the same place for more than two decades.

More than 100 municipal doctors who defied rules that require them to be transferred every three years, will be given new postings (HT)

The BMC has asked all peripheral, tertiary hospitals to make a list of medical officers who avoided transfers. In March, HT had reported that 114 senior medical officers and medical officers from the Rajawadi, Ghatkopar, K B Bhabha, V N Desai and other hospitals have been working in the same establishment beyond the three-year period. According to the employee transfer policy laws of the BMC, doctors are supposed to be transferred to a different medical facility every three years. The rules also state that a civic-run establishment should transfer 25% of their working staff every three years. This is to reduce chances of corruption.

Idez Kundan, assistant municipal commissioner (health), said that the civic body wants to know the exact issue which caused lapses in policy. “We want to analyse the data to see who are these doctors and for how long have they stayed at one place. There are doctors who do not want to be transferred and after getting the entire details we will be able to check where the problem lies and what corrective measures can be taken,” said Kundan.

RTI activist Chetan Kotharisaid the delay in transfers is against patients’ welfare because doctors working in the same place for a long time form a nexus with pharmacies and diagnostic laboratories that offer kickbacks for referrals. “Despite the fact the Medical Council of India has asked doctors from civic facilities to prescribe generic drugs, many doctors usually prescribe branded drugs available at pharmacies outside the hospital. Even for diagnostic tests, they ask patients to go to certain laboratories. The transfer policy can break this nexus,” said Kothari.

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Civic doctors in Mumbai avoid mandatory transfers to different medical facilities: RTI