The Service Doctors and Post Graduates Association (SDPGA) has flagged the uneven distribution of postgraduates (PG) under the District Residency Programme (DRP), with PGs not being posted to a number of government hospitals (GH). A sample survey of the postings found that zero PGs were posted to 12 government hospitals, including in Cuddalore and Tiruvallur districts.
The association’s president P. Saminathan, in a letter to the Health Secretary, said that an analysis of DRP posting orders issued by the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) and Research shows that the PGs have been posted with no specific criteria being followed. Government hospitals with high Institutional Services Monitoring Report (ISMR) performance and patient care have been “penalised” as no PG has been posted under the programme. DRP is a three-month mandatory posting in district hospitals for PGs as per National Medical Commission (NMC) norms.
“As per monthly ISMR, some of these hospitals perform better offering good patient care with less number of doctors. Instead of augmenting the workforce by posting PGs under DRP, the department has not posted any PG in these hospitals, thereby adding stress to the already overworked workforce. It looks like the officials missed out on old District Headquarters Hospitals such as at Cuddalore and a number of taluk Government Hospitals in the posting and concentrated on new District Headquarters Hospitals in 14 districts, missing out on Hosur and Vedaranyam as well,” he said.
