Health Dept. redeploys doctors instead of creating new posts in 50 new PHCs

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On Thursday, 50 new Primary Health Centres (PHCs) – 22 in urban and 28 in rural areas – were added to the State’s public health infrastructure. However, the Health Department has, yet again, not created posts of doctors for these facilities. Instead, 78 medical officers – 56 for rural and 22 for urban PHCs – are being redeployed from the existing upgraded PHCs.

For the posts of staff nurses, pharmacist, laboratory technician, health inspector and multipurpose hospital worker/support staff, the department has resorted to two strategies — one by creating posts in regular time scale pay for 28 rural PHCs on permanent basis by surrendering various categories of posts sanctioned under the control of the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, and the other through contractual recruitments through the respective District Health Society.

This continuing practice of redeploying staff for new health facilities instead of creating fresh posts and making contractual appointments has irked a section of government doctors.

P. Saminathan, president, Service Doctors and Post Graduates Association, in a letter to the Health Secretary, requested for exclusive post sanction of medical officers for the newly created PHCs, instead of redeployment.

A total of 122 upgraded PHCs with 30 beds are functioning round-the-clock in remote areas of the State, with five sanctioned posts of medical officers. If 78 medical officers are redeployed from these PHCs, it will lead to a staff shortage, and cause difficulties in functioning round-the-clock. This will, in turn, overburden the medical officers in the existing upgraded PHCs, he said.

Only 56 posts – 28 staff nurses (Reproductive and Child Health) and Sector Health Nurses (SHN) each – were newly created for the rural PHCs by surrendering various categories of posts. Apart from this, 224 contract posts for rural PHCs (eight per centre) and 176 contract posts for urban PHCs were sanctioned.

“As per norms, a new PHC should have eight regular posts apart from two medical officers: pharmacist, lab technician, staff nurse, Auxiliary Nurse Midwife, health inspector, SHN, junior assistant, and driver. Of these, only 56 posts of staff nurses and SHN have been newly created for rural PHCs. The posts of pharmacist, lab technician and health inspector have been made contractual, and those of ANM, junior assistant, and drivers have been done away with, leading to reduction in regular posts,” a source said.

An official said all 50 PHCs would start functioning immediately (from Thursday) with the redeployed medical officers and other staff. New recruitment would happen, as per procedure, over a period of time.