TIRUNELVELI: In light of the acute shortage of medical professionals in government hospitals, Dr J Rajamoorthi, the Director of Medical and Rural Health Services (DMS), has instructed Joint Directors (JDs) of Health Services in all districts to reject earned leave applications submitted by government doctors. In a circular issued on Wednesday, the director said JDs should not forward leave requests to his office until the shortage is addressed.
“A large number of doctors, across various wings, including health services, family welfare, TB and Leprosy, are seeking earned leave for personal reasons. However, due to the current shortage, granting leave will affect uninterrupted treatment to the public. Until the situation improves, officers are instructed to reject such applications at the district-level,” the circular stated.
The directive applies to doctors in positions such as deputy directors, chief civil surgeons and senior civil surgeons.
A doctor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said many had to cancel planned foreign trips due to denial of leaves. Service Doctors and Post Graduates Association president Dr P Saminathan said the government has not created a single doctor post in the 16 government headquarters hospitals in recent years.
“The patient load is increasing across the state, but there is no corresponding effort to improve treatment quality or infrastructure. Refusing entitled leave to doctors is inhumane,” he said.
Dr Rajamoorthi and Health Secretary P Senthilkumar were unavailable for comments.