Punjab healthcare to improve, 500 more docs

In a bid to optimise health services, Punjab health minister Madan Mohan Mittal on Thursday said as many as 500 more specialist and general practitioner doctors will be absorbed in various hospitals and health centers in Punjab in the months to come.

This has been decided to fill in the void being created by doctors who have gone on long extended leaves for various reasons including pursuing their post graduate studies.
Mittal said another 300 MBBS doctors have been inducted in the health services who will be eventually deployed as emergency medical officers at various places in the state.

“They are presently undergoing a 3-month training course which ends in about a month’s time,” the minister said.

Mittal, flanked by assistant media advisor Vineet Joshi, also reiterated his government’s resolve to ensure that doctors are made available in all hospitals as per the sanctioned strength.

He said as many as 523 doctors have been transferred in this regard.
Mittal said Punjab has been successful in ensuring that a health center or a hospital is available for patients within a radius of 10-km to avoid hassle.

“At least 100 such hospitals and centers have been identified for the purpose. The recent exercise of rationalisation has ensured that there are adequate number of doctors at these places for patient aid,” he said.

The minister added that the health department has taken a concerted view that a PG doctor will not be appointed as an emergency medical officer in a hospital henceforth.
Mittal said these special doctors will be on call in cases of emergency or whenever required. He said he would also enforse practices to ensure nobody in need of medical help goes unattended.

On the issue of some doctors hurling threats to resign in wake of the large number of transfers carried out as part of rationalisation, the minister said the government was open to dialogue with doctors in case they have a genuine ground.

He said the transfer process has been carried out after due diligence and care has been taken to ensure that cases with genuine reason are not included in the transfer list.

“Nobody needs to resign. I am not an administrator or a bureaucrat. I run the department only as head of the family. Still, we are open to any genuine representation,” Mittal said, wondering if there were also reasons of private practice that has led to some of these doctors threatening to adopt the path of confrontation.

When asked whether or not the police could raid government doctors doing private practice elsewhere, the minister said that the department proceeds against such erring doctors and the police has no business to proceed against any such doctor.