Popular sites for jobs are full of advertisements by several well-known hospitals, including corporate offices too, in search of ayurvedic and homeopathic doctors to work as resident medical officers (RMO), emergency or casualty medical officers (CMO) and also to manage ICUs during night.

Patients admitted in these well-known hospitals for special treatments are not only uninformed that Ayush doctors are managing their care but their bills, too, does not reflect any cost-cutting measure. Ayush practitioners are taking half the salary of MBBS doctors.

The government has been trying to train Ayush doctors to provide the basic healthcare service in rural areas as there is an acute shortage of doctors. However, advertisements by private hospitals are for big cities and there areextra MBBS doctors and specialists.

The practice of hiring Ayush doctors is very rampant in Mumbai and Pune. The hospitals that have given ads include Asian Heart Institute, Fortis Hospital in Mulund and Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai and Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and Ruby Hall Clinic in Pune.

Many of these hospitals denied that their hiring of BAMS, BHMS doctors were allowed to do clinical duties and were for documentation work and assisting allopathic doctors. But many ads clearly mentioned that the hiring is for clinical duties including intubation of patients, evaluating changes in patient condition, insertion of central line, starting emergency treatment, carrying out emergency and ICU procedures etc.

A correspondent called up one of these hospitals stating as currently jobless BAMS graduate with three years of experience. The HR person said the work involves clinical duties in casualty, ICU and wards and 2 nights per week and a rotational off. The person said that the salary was Rs 18,000, but since he was experienced, they can pay Rs 21,000 plus an extra Rs 3,000 per month for COVID duty.

MBBS graduates are offered payments between Rs 40,000 and Rs 45,000 by few of these hospitals. However, they don’t even want to spend so much, hence, they hire BAMS and BHMS or even Unani graduates who take the salary half that cost.

Most of the big hospitals are accredited with the National Accreditation Board for Hospital and Healthcare (NABH). Dr Devi Shetty told TOI that non-allopathic doctors do not have the licence to practice allopathy. Ravi Wankhedkar, former president of the Indian Medical Association said that this is illegal and they have this repeatedly.

A doctor working in a corporate hospital asked that if he is paying Rs 1 lakh per day for care in a five-star hospital, as a patient he should have the right to know whether the doctor treating him is a vaid or a homeopath. Clearly, this is cheating of patients. There should be an investigation on whether using these doctors have resulted in higher mortality among ICU and COVID patients. Medical negligence by an allopath means a case before the medical council. What if a patient is harmed by some Ayush doctor practising allopathy, then who will take the responsibility?

A medical college professor said that his mother was admitted to a big private hospital in Pune. He was shocked to discover that the only doctors on night duty were ayurvedic graduates, which was totally unacceptable.

Dr Anand Rai, an ophthalmologist and whistle-blower in the Vyapam scam also said that it is widespread in places like Bhopal and Indore. Many hospitals were caught employing Ayush graduates for ICU duty during night in a sting operation in 2018, however the practice still continues as the government has not taken any strict action.

A prominent surgeon who works in a Mumbai private hospital that has Ayush graduates in the ICU at nightargued that there was nothing wrong in using these graduates if they are trained in the necessary services. They form a large workforce and should beused creatively. If they are skilled then should also be paid better. It is about their capability and not regarding which system of medicine they are from.

A professor in AIIMS, Delhi asked that if the patient wanted treatment by an Ayush doctor he would have gone to the Ayush hospital. If the patient has gone to the allopathic hospital for treatment then should the person taken care by an Ayush doctor be masked as an allopath.

Source: ET Healthworld