The state government is taking various measures to address the shortage of doctors in the state.
Minister in-charge Health & Family Welfare Ampareen Lyngdoh said that the last recruitment was initiated through the Recruitment Board that was specifically constituted to quickly address the shortfall of specialist doctors across the state of Meghalaya.
“We are now going to readvertise this matter quickly,” Lyngdoh said.
The minister had recently informed the Assembly that about 397 new medical officers were recruited by the Board out of which 83 are specialist doctors. However, there is still a gap of 150 specialist doctors in the state, which is a cause of concern.
Lyngdoh also informed that the government is also sending doctors for short term specialization programmes where doctors in CHCs and PHCs are duly equipped to deal with the more complex gynecology or paediatric or even radiology matters.
According to her, there is a scheme of the government of India and two hospitals in the state – civil hospital, Shillong and Ganesh Das hosptial – are now offering these courses to doctors and medical practitioners who have been on the job for many years and who are eligible to go for such kinds of programmes.
” Running these programmes, we will be able to quickly address the immediate shortfall of (doctors) in very important departments like gynecology, paediatric, X-ray, pathology. That is the mode we are adopting with the hope that at least ensure these specialists quickly get trained for a six-month programme and quickly go back to their places of posting and efficiently discharge their duties in those areas where there is grave requirement of such specialists,” she added.
She also informed that the state government is now preparing to focus on tertiary treatments.
“We would like now to make sure that at least 10-13 big hospitals in various hospitals get upgraded to the best facilities so that these tertiary care centres will to a large extent address the problem of patients having to travel outside the state to avail higher facilities from hospitals to treat their various ailments. This is something which is going to be done in a big way and we are accessing several funding sources. We would like to see the state of Meghalaya progressing productively in the health sector,” she said.