PMC health dept reels from medical staff crunch as more than 50% posts not filled

With permanent recruitments stuck at GB level, not many docs want temporary posts; flu OPD staff deployed in maternity ward

As the city grapples with the pandemic, ground-level officers from the health department of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) at the forefront in the war against coronavirus seem to be struggling to keep up pace with the mounting cases.

More than 50 per cent vacancies have reportedly not been filled even two months after the virus outbreak, adding the burden on existing staff members. In some places, this is proving to be a cause of concern since the doctors in charge of flu patients are also made to cater to patients with other conditions, including expecting mothers getting admitted for deliveries in hospitals that were originally maternity homes.

While authorities have started the recruitment process, positions could be filled up only temporarily as permanent appointments would require approval of PMC’s general body. As a result, the small-tenure openings have attracted very few doctors to apply for the positions.

At least 130 patients walk in daily in the outpatient department (OPD) of PMC’s hospital in Yerawada. Since the hospital is in a red zone, for the past two months around 10 to 15 of these patients have turned out to be suspects, who are being sent for further testing. Besides tending to flu patients, the hospital, which is originally a maternity home, is also conducting deliveries and hospitalising pregnant women for treatment. Ironically, while the civic body is going gung ho over maintaining social distancing and following measures to combat novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Yerawada facility a lone doctor is deployed to check OPD patients and carry out deliveries. After checking OPD patients every day, she does rounds of the inpatient department (IPD) to check on admitted patients. Since she is the only doctor posted at the clinic, she often has to rush to the hospital in the middle of the night in case of emergencies.

“We are facing staff crunch for the past six months. A few doctors who did get posted here were shifted to other clinics within days.

Since the virus outbreak, I am the only doctor allotted for all the check-ups. We don’t have pharmacists either and the nurses have been sent for contact tracing and other duties. I am on duty almost 24/7,” the doctor elaborated.

The condition in other civic bodyrun hospitals across the city is not very different either. Shortage of healthcare staff has taken a direct toll on the facilities. Although many private practitioners and social organisations came forward to assist the civic authorities in contact tracing and other tasks, the vacuum is still proving to be too huge. The strength of PMC’s health department is supposed to be 1,664. However, some 750 positions remain vacant. Of these, 151vacancies are of Class I officers and 69 of medical officers. Despite the fact that these positions need to be filled immediately, they are stuck at the administrative level. Since permanent recruitments require the approval of the general body, PMC has advertised only for temporary positions for oneand-a-half to three months. Since the tenure is so short, only 20 doctors have applied for the positions, for which further scrutiny is in progress. With the general body meeting not likely to happen anytime soon, the approvals for permanent recruitments too are likely to get delayed.

When asked, a senior health department official said, “Not many doctors are willing to take up the temporary positions. We need to go in for permanent recruitments as soon as possible.”

Talking about the delay in recruitment, PMC additional commissioner Rubal Agarwal said, “At present, we are taking doctors on temporary basis. We have received applications for a few positions. For categories that fall under merit, we have to do a detailed scrutiny.”