The Superintendent and professors of MCH Hospital in Jagtial district of Telangana had to face grunt after health minister Harish Rao visited the hospital.
The health department has set a deadline of July 18 for the accused individuals to submit an explanation for their absence. (Supplied)
The superintendent and doctors at the Mother and Child Health (MCH) Hospital in the Jagtial district of Telangana were not on duty on Saturday, 15 July.
Now, this could have been a regular occurrence, but this was not just another Saturday.
It was the day Health Minister Harish Rao paid an unexpected visit to the hospital in Jagtial, situated approximately 200 kilometres from Hyderabad.
During his visit to the MCH Hospital in Jagtial, the minister discovered the absence of Ramulu as well as the unexplained absence of Assistant Professor Dr N Sujatha and Professor Dr Aruna Sree.
These individuals failed to provide any leave applications for their absence.
The result? The Telangana Health Department has issued notices to the Superintendent of Jagtial Government Hospital, Dr L Ramulu, along with three professors and several anaesthesia and nursing staff members, for their failure to report for duty.
The Department also set a deadline of 18 July for these individuals to submit an explanation for their absence.
This incident comes as the state government released an internal report highlighting the poor performance of primary healthcare centres, particularly in mother and child care.
The government is concerned about patients choosing private hospitals due to the subpar services provided by these centres.
Minister Harish Rao’s surprise visits, like the Saturday one, are aimed at improving governance, especially in smaller districts.
Since the formation of Telangana, government hospitals have been established in all districts to provide better facilities to the public, the Health Department said.
The government medical college and hospital in Jagtial was established to fulfil the aspirations of the government by offering improved treatment to the public.
However, during the surprise inspection, the minister expressed his anger at the absence of the doctors during their scheduled duty hours.
The minister visited the Outpatient Department, enquired about the patient details, and examined the records of laboratory tests.
According to sources, Ramulu arrived at the hospital at 9.40 am, but was nowhere to be found during the minister’s visit at 1.30 pm.
The anaesthesia staff members, who claimed to have attended a conference, have been asked to provide proof.
During his visit, the minister inspected various departments and interacted with pregnant women and their attendants.
Subsequently, he chaired a meeting expressing concern over doctors not adhering to their duty schedules.
Minister Harish Rao instructed senior officials to take appropriate action against those who violated the norms and took unauthorised leaves.
He also urged the authorities to implement a biometric attendance system for doctors and staff members.
“In order to provide quality treatment to patients, the state government has developed all medical facilities and arranged the latest medical equipment in government hospitals in the state. Therefore, doctors must provide treatment to people without fail,” said Rao.
He added, “Patients face difficulties if doctors are not available in the hospital during an emergency. To avoid such a situation, doctors should work in coordination.”
The minister instructed the collector and the hospital superintendent to implement a biometric attendance system to record the hospital staff’s attendance.
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