Row over 24x7 specialty service: govt. hits back with its own figures
The Kerala government is firm on its proposal to make 24x7 specialty services available in General and district hospitals, despite concerns from the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) about a lack of additional human resources. The government maintains that judicious redeployment of existing specialist doctors can resolve the issue, countering KGMOA's figures on vacancies.
Why it matters
This dispute highlights challenges in public healthcare provision, specifically balancing service expansion with resource constraints and medical professionals' concerns, impacting patient care and doctor workload in Kerala.
Even as the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) has expressed its concerns over the government’s proposal to make specialty services available round the clock in General and district hospitals without the creation of additional human resources, the government has been firm in its resolve to go ahead with its plan.
The government maintains that while it is true that there are plenty of vacancies in the Health Service at present, a judicious redeployment of existing specialist doctors in service can resolve the issue.
The KGMOA had pointed out that there are 799 vacancies of doctors in the Health Service — of which, 300 vacancies are in the specialty cadre — making it impractical that round-the-clock service provision can be made possible through just working arrangements, without post creation.
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