BENGALURU: There are not enough health personnel in Karnataka’s war against Covid-19 on all fronts — doctors, nurses, lab technicians, ward boys and ayahs.
This is the bleak scene in government as well as private hospitals.As per data with the State’s Health & Family Welfare Department, there are 26,265 vacancies against a total 58,961 sanctioned posts.
District hospitals have 3,227 vacancies, taluk hospitals 5,853, Community health centres (CHCs) 4,061, and primary health centres (PHCs) 11,854.
The largest number of vacancies is found in the Group C (10,025) and Group D (12,054 vacancies) staff, which include lab technicians, nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, clerical staff, janitors, attenders and ambulance drivers in the State health department.
“The vacancies were there prior to the pandemic too, but now, out of fear of infection, people are refusing to come to work or are resigning. With Covid Care Centres being set up, we are struggling to mobilize manpower. We are requesting dentists and ayurveda doctors to work here as they have common subjects in medicine until 4th year of MBBS,” said a source from the health department.
Although the department has been calling for doctors, staff nurses and lab technicians, none have responded.
This is the situation even as Karnataka is witnessing a rising positivity rate from 3.32 per cent on July 5 to 6.24 per cent on July 19 even as the recovery rate slid from 41.94 per cent to 36.16 per cent in the same period, although the mortality rate is hovering around 2.08 per cent.
While Karnataka’s first Covid-19 case was reported on March 8, the State crossed the 1,000-mark 65 days later on May 12.
But as of July 19 (a little over two months later), the tally stands at a whopping 63,772 with the daily growth rate ranging from 7-8 per cent.
A doctor from a government hospital under the health department in Bengaluru said that those above 50-55 years are not deployed for Covid ward duty irrespective of which category they fall under as they are more vulnerable to coronavirus.
This further adds to the shortage of manpower at a time when hands are needed the most in the wake of rising numbers.
The shortage of doctors who fall under Group A category in district hospitals, taluk hospitals, community health centres and primary health centres comes up to 3,597 posts.The shortage of staff under Group C and Group D is not exclusive to the government set-up.
Dr R Ravindra, president, Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association, said that in small hospitals there is more than a 50 per cent shortage of nurses, ward boys and ayahs.
“In mid-sized and large hospitals, there is a 50 per cent shortage of ward boys and 30 per cent of nursing staff. Even though their salaries have been doubled to motivate them, they are not agreeing to work,” he said.