Punjab: The district Ayurveda department is grappling with a huge shortage of staff, hampering the smooth functioning of the dispensaries and the only Ayurvedic hospital in the district. On one hand, the government is promoting Ayurveda and encouraging people to adopt alternative medicine, but on the other hand, the shortage of staff is posing a big challenge for patients. Ayurvedic centres are struggling to run their operations effectively. Ludhiana district has an Ayurvedic hospital at Model Gram, where surgeries are also performed and besides this, the district has 64 dispensaries – 41 run by the state health department and 23 under the National Health Mission. There are a total of 64 posts of Ayurvedic Medical Officers (AMOs) in the district, of which 19 are currently vacant. There are five nurse posts, all of which are vacant.
Two nurses have been deployed at the government Ayurvedic hospital at Model Gram, while one nurse each has been deployed at Haibowal, Dholewal and Dana Mandi. Besides, 17 dispensaries are running without pharmacists (Ap-Vaid) and eight such dispensaries have neither AMO nor pharmacist. These dispensaries are being managed by staff posted on special duty assignments. The Government Ayurvedic Hospital is the worst hit by this shortage, which has led to a significant drop in the number of surgeries performed at the hospital. Earlier, 10-12 surgeries were performed, but now the number has dropped to almost zero. One of the two nurses posted at this hospital retired last year, while the other was recalled by the department in August. As a result, there is no nursing care available for patients after surgery. The hospital has two doctors, Dr Hemant Kumar (surgeon) and Ayurvedic Medical Officer Dr Shivani Arora.
“Especially female patients are turning away due to lack of nursing care. Despite repeated requests to the department, the situation remains unresolved,” said Dr Hemant Kumar. He said the hospital provides free surgical treatment, and the worst affected are those who cannot afford expensive surgeries elsewhere. District Ayurveda and Unani Officer Dr Raman Khanna confirmed the shortage of AMOs, nurses and pharmacists. He said, “The nurses sent to the Ayurveda department on deputation by the health department have been recalled. Punjab has five Ayurvedic hospitals in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Mohali, Moga and Amritsar, but only Jalandhar has nursing staff while the posts are vacant at all other stations.” Dr Khanna said doctors retire or get transferred but the vacancies are not filled. He assured that the department has already informed the authorities about the acute shortage of medical officers, nurses and pharmacists.
