Delhi government-run hospitals are facing a chronic shortage of doctors and are recruiting on contract or ad-hoc basis to tackle the crunch.

Officials reported that while in Centre-run hospitals like AIIMS, Safdarjung and Ram Manohar Lohia, doctors can practise till the age of 70, under extension of service and on a contractual basis after retirement, no such scheme has yet been implemented in the Delhi government-run hospitals, which are struggling with a nearly 30% shortage of doctors.

Out of the total sanctioned posts of 4,644 doctors, around 1,400 posts are vacant, and the services are being affected due to this shortage, revealed an official.

The procedure of appointing doctors, done through the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), is complex and takes a long time. The doctors first clear the test conducted by the UPSC, followed by an interview. A senior official in the Delhi government’s Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) mentioned that the test results are published after six to nine months and then the interview is conducted, and the whole process takes around a year to complete.

Explaining the reasons for the shortage, the official mentioned that many doctors, after completing their MBBS, opt for further studies or join the private healthcare sector owing to its higher pay scale.

All this is affecting the doctor-patient ratio in Delhi hospitals, said the DGHS official. He further added that hospitals themselves can hire certain doctors on an ad-hoc and contractual basis.

The hiring of doctors on a contractual basis was approved last year in the Centre-run hospitals. However, the states are not obliged to follow it as they have a different process of hiring, mentioned a senior official in the Central Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

The Delhi Health official stated that in Delhi, doctors work till the age of 65 and raising the age of working of doctors is being considered.

Last year, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had ordered that all the posts must be filled on contractual basis till the completion of the permanent hiring process.

Shortage of medical staff has always been an issue with the Delhi hospitals. As the UPSC is following the appointment process, the Delhi government-run hospitals can appoint certain category of doctors on a contractual basis by advertising.

This month, the UPSC announced vacancies for the post of ‘General Duty Medical Officer’ under the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Delhi. As per the notification, applications were invited for about 327 posts, out of which 13 are reserved for physically challenged persons, 63 for SC and 28 for ST category, with a pay scale ranging from Rs 15,600 to Rs 39,100 besides other allowances.