THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Government Medical Officers Association (KGMOA) has welcomed the government’s decision to provide round-the-clock specialty services at general and district hospitals. A statement from the association said it was their long-standing demand. However, it warned against implementing the plan through mere redeployment of existing staff. Without new posts, the reform is impractical and could weaken Kerala’s three-tier public health system.
According to KGMOA, the health department lacks the manpower needed to sustain existing services, let alone extend them. Medical colleges offering 24-hour services have around 100 doctors per department. They include about 30 faculty members, nearly 10 senior residents, and 60 junior residents. District and general hospitals do not have comparable staff strength.
KGMOA said specialists who handle night emergency duty cannot also be expected to manage daytime OP, IP and theatre work. It would endanger both doctors’ health and patient safety. The plan cannot be implemented merely through an on-call system. New specialty posts should be created immediately so that stay-duty can be organised in proper shifts.
The association said the health department has around 800 doctor vacancies. Of these, 300 are in the specialty cadre, worsened by delays in promotions and cadre placements. There are also 476 vacancies in the general cadre and 23 in the administrative cadre. Kasaragod, Kannur and Palakkad districts alone have over 100 doctor vacancies each. It urged the government to fill these vacancies urgently before rolling out new plans.