Specialists' shortage ails Gurugram govt hospital

While the millennium city is emerging as the medical tourism destination with over 30 multi-speciality hospitals, the civil hospital here registering over 10,000 footfalls a day are "referring patients to other government hospitals, such as Delhi's AIIMS, Safdarjung and PGI Rohtak, due to lack of specialist doctors".

According to a Right to Information (RTI) plea filed by Mohit Khatana, a resident, the city has only one government hospital at sector 10 and patients' referral to AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital had increased three-times in 2019 over 2018.

Khatana had sought data on patients being referred to those two Delhi hospitals in the last 6 years as the medical facility for lower income group residents here was of low grade.

According to data provided by the Health Department, 1,694 critically ill patients were referred to AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospitals in 2019, against 453 in 2018. It was 356 in 2017, 459 in 2016, 221 in 2015 and 221 in 2014.

According to doctors, the Gurugram civil hospital lacks cardiologist, neurosurgeon, surgeon and urologist as many of the specialists have joined private hospitals as the salary is 6-8 times higher than in the government hospital.

J.S. Punia, Gurugram civil surgeon, admitted shortage of specialists. "We have secondary level treatment facility available in the hospital and we refer patients having critical illness," Punia said.IANS