Doctors playing truant at the rural health centres are destined to land in great trouble now.
“Despite repeated orders and show cause notices, few doctors have not yet responded and now we are gearing up to take stern action against them. The district civil surgeons have been directed to submit a detailed report on the number of patients examined and the type of diseases on the rise from a particular region to primarily monitor the attendance of doctors at the various health centres in the rural places,” Health Minister Ramchandra Chandravanshi pointed out.
“Though we have received a few reports but certain districts are still lagging behind. Strict action will soon be meted out to the concerned civil surgeons too penalising them for the delay,” said Chandravanshi.
Notably, the State Government had recently sacked nine doctors posted at primary health centres in Bokaro, Dhanbad, Dumka, Godda, Palamu, Chaibasa and Giridih districts for their prolonged absenteeism since joining in 2012.
An aid of the minister said that despite the department’s repeated efforts to appoint district civil surgeons as nodal officers in a bid to monitor the absenteeism of doctors in the rural health centres, the issue continues to remain high.
“We are still investigating and trying to trace these officers at certain places and if the allegations are found true, it can result into more termination and suspension based on the seriousness of the issue. But, the issue of unauthorized absenteeism remains to be high, especially in rural health centres,” he said.
According to the national health profile, Jharkhand has 1,956 doctors in more than 3,500 health centres and has a poor doctor patient ratio of 1:19,785.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary K Vidyasagar maintained that the department is handling the issue strictly and has already been able to tackle it to a certain point. “A number of doctors have migrated to other states for a higher salary and better scope. That continues to be one of the major reasons why unauthorised absenteeism still continues to haunt the state. We already appointed 300 doctors this January and are in talks to appoint 168 more in the State. The biometric attendance system is effective at many places and is being installed at the rest of the health centres for better monitoring,” said Vidyasagar.
Five doctors were removed for remaining absent from duty since having been appointed in October, 2014. Around 15 doctors were suspended for missing from their posts during duty hours between August and November. In November, the department resolved to block salaries of doctors on unsanctioned leaves.