Duty doctors should be present in hosp: Top official

Additional Chief Secretary, for Medical Education department (MED), V Manjula has issued a circular to all medical college hospitals to ensure that all duty doctors would be present in the hospitals.

She has issued the circular, following the complaint by three doctors of Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS) about the absence of the duty doctors during an emergency case recently.

The circular states that the medical college hospitals are in the limelight for the wrong reasons, due to lack of prompt action in certain areas. "The directors of the respective medical colleges should ensure that night duty are assigned as instructed to the assistant professors and associate professors. Their performance should be documented properly. Reporting late for night duty is not acceptable and invites punishment. The medical superintendents and the directors are expected to initiate disciplinary action against any irregularities," the circular states.

The circular also warns the directors and medical superintendents not to leave the headquarters without prior permission from the Additional Chief Secretary, MED. Similarly, the directors should also issue instructions that the heads of departments and other staff should not leave the headquarters without prior permission.

'Reside in headquarters'

The staff of the medical colleges are expected to reside in the headquarters. The additional secretary has said, "It has come to my notice that some staff, including doctors, are commuting to the place of work from neighboring cities. This is not acceptable. In all such cases, the directors of the respective medical colleges are advised to issue warnings to the delinquent staff. It is expected that the staff, who are not staying in the headquarters of their respective medical colleges should immediately make arrangements to reside in the headquarters to avoid disciplinary action."

Earlier, a few doctors in MIMS had complained about the lapses of the doctors in MIMS, during an emergency in October month. It may be recalled that a major accident was reported in the district and several people were injured. But there were no adequate doctors to treat the injured people in the hospital. So, 14 persons died, due to lack of doctors and delay in treatment. Fourteen doctors were supposed to be on duty on that day, but, only three doctors were present in the hospital.