KARACHI: 1,500 posts of doctors lying vacant in Sindh
By Mukhtar Alam
KARACHI, July 17: About 1,500 posts of doctors and health specialists are lying vacant at various government health facilities throughout the province, say sources in the provincial health department.
The worst sufferers are the patients in rural areas, who have been left dependant on the ill-equipped primary level healthcare facilities. A number of basic health units, dispensaries and mother and child health centres have almost ceased to function due to non-availability of doctors, which could be attributed to the ban prevailing for long on recruitment, it is learnt.
Sources said that unmanaged and under-utilisation of rural health facilities, severe shortage of staff and the menace of absenteeism had been the sources of concern among the high-ups.
As such, they added, there was likelihood that the basic health units in some districts, including Tharparkar, Dadu, Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Badin, Jacobabad, would be outsourced in future.
It was in February last that the Sindh government had decided to recruit 1,300 doctors and health specialists against the vacant posts in grades 17 and 18 in the health department on contract basis.
The posts included about 760 those against which a procedure for appointment on regular basis was undertaken by the Sindh Public Service Commission. However, it was stopped later on the directives of the chief minister, who in the first week of February had declared the results of written tests of candidates null and void, citing reports of "large scale irregularities and manipulations" in the tests.
In view of the fact that cases pertaining to invalidation of the SPSC test results are before the courts of law, the health department has now decided to request the chief minister to accord approval for appointment of doctors on contract basis against the posts, which were not subjudice.
Sindh Health Secretary Dr Naushad A. Sheikh confirmed that his department was considering appointments of doctors on contract basis.
He told Dawn that there were about 465 posts of doctors in Grade 17 and 280 posts of specialists in Grade 18, which were not in litigation and awaited appointments for long. In view of the crisis, he said, immediate appointments were required.
The health secretary expressed hope that the chief minister would accord his permission for the purpose.
He said that the department also intended to appoint candidates against another 36 posts which were vacant for the time being as doctors had gone on long leave or were out of country on deputation.
Naushad A. Sheikh said that the new appointments would be hospital or district specified in order to retain the doctors at rural health units and dispensaries for a longer period.
The appointment period under the contract system would be one year with the possibility of an extension over a period of three years in the light of reports from nazims or DCOs and EDO Health concerned through constant evaluation, he said.
Besides, he mentioned that the persons who would be appointed against the 36 posts would be relieved as soon as the doctors on long leave and those out of country on deputation returned and rejoined the department.
