The shortage of Emergency Medical Officers (EMO) has severely affected the emergency wing of the associated hospital of the Government Doon Medical College.
The hospital, which is the biggest in the State, in terms of patients visiting, requires at least six EMOs for smooth functioning of its emergency wing, that runs 24x7. However, it has only three EMOs, which is why the administration is now relying on other doctors to man the wing.
It may be noted that the Uttarakhand Medical Service Selection Board on June this year recruited four EMOs to fill up the vacant posts and consequently recommended their appointment to the State Government. Unfortunately, the files are still pending for clearance for over four months.
To add to the woes of the hospital administration, other doctors try to evade emergency duty.
On Monday, Dr Abhishek Rai, who is an Orthopedician, even refused the emergency duty prompting the Medical Superintendent (MS) to issue an order that doctors should not decline to work in the emergency. Dr Rai is one of a faculty members of medical college recruited this year and it learnt that he is contemplating to leave the job.
The emergency ward of the hospital functions in three shifts and 450 to 500 patients visit the facility everyday.
The MS of the hospital Dr KK Tamta said it was not proper on part of some doctors to refuse emergency duty and added that doctors of medical college were more vocal in opposition to the emergency duty.
Dr Tamta said he would apprise the HNB Medical Education University and the Medical Education Department about the
opposition shown by some doctors for emergency duty which is one of the most important parts of a hospital’s functioning.