Even as a large number of patients wait in queue to get better and affordable treatment at the premier healthcare institution All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here, the shortage of staff has become a major concern for the authorities.
The AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, which started in 2012, treats nearly 1,000 patients every day. But several vacant posts at the institute to carry out the administrative work are affecting its smooth administration.
According to sources, the post of Director is vacant since August last year and the selection process for the post is underway while the administrative work is being carried out only by two officers.
There are no Deputy Director and Senior Administrative Officer at the institute, as a result of which the workload on the existing staff has risen almost ten-fold.
The tough guidelines for appointment of staff, from officer level to lower level, of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are also delaying the recruitment process, the sources added.
According to the sources, the appointment process also slowed down following the change of the Government at the Centre, and there is shortage of staff to scrutinise the applications of aspirants.
As permanent appointments could not be done, the office work has been outsourced.
Notably, the number of patients is rising every day at the 1,000-bed AIIMS. Due to the facilities such as modern equipments like MRI at a cheaper cost, patient throng the AIIMS first before going to any other hospital in the city.