Status:cleared
Chennai: To address long-pending vacancies of doctors, Greater Chennai Corporation will hire 60 doctors in Urban Health and Wellness Centres launched two years ago. Councillors however recommend appoinment of doctors on a permanant basis.
Chief Minister M K Stalin inaugurated 200 health and wellness centres two years ago. Set up under the union govt’s Ayushman Bharat scheme, these centres are supposed to complement the existing primary health centres. Each of these centres will have a doctor, nurse, and support staff. Yet many centres in areas like Manali, Madhavaram, and KK Nagar still run without doctors, pushing patients to crowded primary health centres and peripheral hospitals.
Now, Chennai City Urban Health Mission, a city-wing of the National Health Mission, with GCC’s city health officer as its member secretary, will fill up vacancies. MBBS qualified doctors aged below 40 will be recruited with a monthly salary of Rs 60,000 for 11 months on contract. Officials said they will recruit the doctors by April. The civic agency will also recruit 60 nurses, multi-purpose health workers, and support staff each.
However, ever since their inauguration, they have been marred with vacancies and poor services. MDMK Councillor S Jeevan of Kodungaiyur said the centre in his ward, covering dense areas like Erukkanchery, Kodungaiyur, Vyasarpadi, and Moolakadai with a population of 80,000, is functioning without a doctor for a year. “I have spoken about this multiple times in council. Yet, we don’t have doctors. Nurses treat patients. Many patients have started going to private clinics,” he said.
CPI Councillor from Tondiarpet M Renuka said except for doctors studying PG, no one even participates in the recruitment drive. “UHWCs function from 8 am to 10 am, and 4 pm to 6 pm. During breaks, doctors do private consultations too. Yet, they quit in less than three months or when they get a PG seat or MRB posting,” she said.
Councillors say giving them a permanent job will ensure their work comes under service records and they can avail the service doctors quota for PG. “When GCC is recruiting civil engineers for permanent posts, doctors, who are important, are in temporary positions,” said Jeevan.
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