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The State Cabinet which met on Wednesday has sanctioned 202 new posts of doctors for the hospitals under the Health department. However, apart from a general statement that new posts would be created for the new medical college hospitals (MCHs) in Kasaragod and Wayanad, the government has not given out any details on the number of posts it would sanction. The government had secured the sanction of the National Medical Commission for 50 new MBBS seats each at the new medical colleges in Kasaragod and Wayanad by redeploying the existing faculty in old medical colleges to the new ones temporarily. As per the NMC requirements, the Kasaragod medical college required 50 additional teaching posts and eight posts of senior residents, while the Wayanad medical college needed 17 more teaching posts and that of 10 senior residents. But this is the bare minimum requirement of posts as stipulated by the NMC. When considering the increasing patient load in MCHs, more teaching and senior resident posts would be necessary to manage the patient load and for casualty duty, it is pointed out. There is no mention at all in the Cabinet decisions about the new posts required for Konni and Idukki medical colleges, where the first phase of construction is over. “The original proposal by the Director of Medical Education had sought close to 200 new posts for all the four new medical colleges. As we understand, the final proposal put forth by the DME sought 101 new posts for Wayanad and Kasaragod MCHs, but he was asked to slash that down to 60. The fact that the Cabinet decision does not specify the number of new posts sanctioned for Wayanad and Kasaragod means that the government is still negotiating to slash new posts to less than 60,” Rosenara Begum, general secretary of Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Association, said. Trying to run medical colleges with bare minimum staff is going to be detrimental for the quality of medical education as well as the care rendered to patients, she added. The 202 new posts announced for the Health department’s hospitals include the posts of superspecialty doctors, specialty doctors, and other medical officers. Under the Consultant category, posts created are Cardiology 20, Neurology 9, Nephrology 10, Urology 4, Gastroenterology 1, Cardiothoracic Surgery 1, Assistant Surgeon 8, and Casualty Medical Officer 48. Under the Junior Consultant category, the new posts include General Medicine 12, General Surgery 9, Obstetrics & Gynaecology 9, Paediatrics 3, Anaesthesia 21, Radiodiagnosis 12, Radiotherapy 1, Forensic Medicine 5, Orthopaedics 4 and ENT 1.
