TIRUCHY: The recent deputation of staff nurses to Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital has triggered concern among doctors and nurses' bodies, who say temporary redeployment without fresh recruitment fails to meet staffing norms and risks weakening patient care across government hospitals.
On December 12, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research ordered the deputation of 35 staff nurses to MGMGH from government medical college hospitals in Karur (20), Nagapattinam (10) and Pudukkottai (5) to manage patient care on the request of National Health Mission Director. The order specifies deputation and not transfer, indicating that the nurses continue to belong to their parent institutions and have been moved temporarily. The nurses have taken charge at MGMGH.
The deputation comes at a time when MGMGH is preparing for a major expansion. A Rs 110-crore specialty block, currently under construction inside the hospital campus, is expected to be completed in January. The block will house around 600 beds and bring together departments such as general medicine, surgery, dermatology, and a centralised blood bank.
Officials at MGMGH confirmed that the deputed nurses are intended to be deployed in the new facility once it becomes operational, even as doctors pointed out that staffing shortages are already evident in the existing hospital blocks. MGMGH is among the busiest hospitals which handles around 7,000 outpatients daily, with 1,700 to 1,750 inpatients occupying over 1,800 beds. The hospital presently has 209 staff nurses working in three shifts. The Service Doctors and Post-Graduate Association opposed the reliance on deputation, calling it a stopgap measure.
"Deputation does not address vacant posts. It only shifts the burden to other hospitals," said Dr Aruleeswaran. Highlighting staffing norms, Dr Aruleeswaran said MGMGH falls short of recommended nurse patient ratios.
"According to Indian Public Health Standards and NABH guidelines, there should be 15 to 17 nurses for every 100 inpatients, and a 1:1 nurse-to-patient ratio in ICUs, including neuro and burns wards," he said. "In reality, during afternoon and night shifts, several wards are managed by a single nurse per floor," he added.
Similar concerns were echoed by a nurses' association that staged a protest in Tiruchy on Saturday, following a counselling session conducted by the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services to absorb contract nurses into regular time-scale posts.
The association said only 167 nurses were called for counselling, despite nearly 8,000 nurses awaiting regularisation across the state, and noted that no vacancies were shown for Tiruchy. "If there are officially no vacancies in Tiruchy, what is the need to depute nurses from other districts?" asked N Subin, general secretary of the association, adding that the situation underlined the need for sanctioned posts and fresh recruitment.
Hospital officials said a proposal seeking additional permanent staff nurses in proportion to bed strength has been submitted, but doctors cautioned that without timely approvals, temporary deputation would continue to mask deeper workforce gaps rather than resolve them.