Patients in Malabar districts, especially Kozhikode, are on the receiving end of an acute shortage of doctors in government hospitals.
Functionaries of the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) point out that the population to doctor ratio is high in districts such as Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad, and Kasaragod. While the ratio is 8217:1 in Kozhikode, it is 8673:1 in Malappuram, 8341:1 in Palakkad, and 7118:1 in Kasaragod.
Of the 443 sanctioned posts of doctors in Kozhikode district, 23 are lying vacant. Two posts are vacant at the office of the District Medical Officer. The Government District Hospital, Vadakara, has six vacancies. The Government General Hospital, Kozhikode, and the government taluk hospitals at Nadapuram, Perambra, and Thamarassery have two vacancies each. The Government Hospital for Women and Children at Kottaparamba in Kozhikode, government taluk hospitals at Feroke and Kuttiyadi, and the family health centres (FHC) at Vanimel, Maruthonkara, Meppayyur, and Chengottukavu have one vacancy each.
In a memorandum to Health Minister Veena George, KGMOA district president Vipin Varkey and district secretary P. Saleema said the seven government taluk hospitals in the district had just four posts of casualty medical officers (CMO). Specialist doctors are forced to take up the job of CMOs. Due to this, speciality services are often denied to patients. They urged the government to sanction at least two more posts of CMOs in taluk hospitals.
Likewise, there are only two posts of doctors in most family health centres. Right now, one temporary doctor is being engaged in these places to address the needs of people who approach outpatient departments, which function till 6 p.m., and also for works such as routine immunisation and field visits. Quite often, one doctor is forced to attend to 150 to 300 patients in the OP section in the morning every day. The KGMOA functionaries said at least three permanent doctors should be posted in each FHC.
The government doctors also sought creation of 24-hour-delivery points in government hospitals and ensure the services of at least seven gynaecologists and an equal number of paediatricians and anaesthetists in these places. They pointed out that none of the government hospitals had any posts in the super-specialty cadre. They demanded that at least two posts each be created in cardiology and nephrology at the Government General Hospital, Kozhikode.
