BBMP fails to fix problem of shortage of doctors at health centers
The list of doctors for health care centers clearly defies their own rules as there is one doctor for more than two health centers
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| Patients await a doctor at a primary health center. |
By Sagarika Ranjan
BANGALORE (Sept. 20)—The city corporation is facing the problem of having just one doctor to treat more than 150,000 patients.
As per the rule laid down by the Bangalore Bruhat Mahanagara Palike one doctor should be appointed for one health center only. However, there are only 30 to 35 doctors for 67 health centers.
Primary health centers have been short of doctors for about the past four years.
Dr. Nayna Patil has been working for three health centers for past four years. Dr. Shobha Rani, Dr. Anathashrilakshmi and Dr. Latha have been working in two health centers for more than a year.
Dr. Nayna visits the health centers on alternate days, as visiting all of them in a day is impossible for her. She attends to one on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and the other on the other days of the week.
Patients do not get to see doctors on all days as the doctors serve at the centers on an hourly basis. The nurse treats the patient after the doctor leaves for the other health centers.
Prema, helper at the Robertson Road Health Centre said, “The doctor can’t stay for the whole day as she looks after three health centers and so Gayatri, the nurse, treats the patients.”
“The problem started only two months back,” said Syed Hasham G., a BBMP health officer. He said doctors for these health centers are appointed from the Health and Family Welfare Department.
Six months ago, the Karnataka High Court ordered all these doctors to return to their parent departments, and the problem of there not being enough doctors for each health center emerged.
Dr. Kalpana, who heads all the health centers in Bangalore said: “Every administrative body has its problems. We are to appoint 84 doctors soon, and the problem will be taken care of.”
Allowance ‘not paid’
The doctors are entitled to an allowance for working at other health centers, but those that The SoftCopy spoke to said they do not get it. Dr. Shobha Rani said she has not received the allowance even once in her time working as the doctor in charge for Kormangala Health Centre.
Dr. Hasham, however, denies that an allowance is payable for being the doctor in charge of more than one health center.
“They are only entitled to get a salary” for the health care center they were appointed to work at as the doctor in charge, he said.
The BBMP told The SoftCopy that the problem would be fixed in a month as doctors will soon be appointed, but the doctors are pessimistic, saying the problem has been continuing for years.
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