Telangana: Doctor crunch ails TIMS hospital

Ranga Reddy: There is a shortage of doctors in the newly inaugurated hospital Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS). Doctors are not willing to work in TIMS due to low salary and also it is a one-year contract. The experts are criticising that even in this worst pandemic situation, doctors want to earn money. They also said there would not be any treatments in TIMS Gachibowli if this continues.

The government has issued notification for 499 posts on June 16. The posts includes 14 professors, 24 associate professors, 48 assistant professors, 8 civil assistant surgeons (RMO), 121 medical officers and the other posting are of nursing and helping staff. Applications were accepted from June 16 to 19 and on June 27 Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender announced that the recruitment process have been completed. He even said that among 13,000 applications 499 members were selected. Medical Education Director Ramesh Reddy said that not even half the posts have been filled but plenty of applications were received for nursing and other helping but not doctors. Even though the number of required doctors are 215 but, not even 120 doctors are recruited. So the government is in search of doctors again.

Due to low salaries offered to government officers and contract which does not have job security, the doctors are not willing to work in TIMS hospital. There is huge demand for MBBS doctors due to the pandemic situation. MBBS doctors are being paid Rs 60,000 per month and a experienced doctor will be paid upto Rs one lakh but in TIMS they are being paid Rs 40,270 only which is very low and there is no job security, so no one is willing to work in TIMS.

Telangana government decided to open TIMS hospital. The government spent Rs 25 crore for medical equipment and other arrangements. The government wanted to build a hospital just like China within 10 days. Even after 4 months nothing changed, no progress. Not even a single person is being treated in TIMS. The government decided to depute some government doctors in TIMS but there is deficiency everywhere, so could not implement it.