District hospitals in State face 56% shortage of doctors: CAG

SHILLONG: District hospitals in the State have 56 per cent shortage of specialised doctors, reveals a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
The report states that according to the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) guidelines, the number of specialised doctors should be 160 whereas the 10 district-level hospitals have only 71.
Also, in case of nurses, the minimum essential number should be 450 but the hospitals have 18 percent shortage at 371.
In the five selected district hospitals, the manpower shortage as per the IPHS norms is 51 specialised doctors, 17 general doctors, 57 staff nurses and 95 paramedical staff.
The audit stated that shortage in availability of doctors had an adverse impact on the healthcare service like C-section was not performed in three out of the five test-checked district hospitals. Also, the operation theatres at Nongstoin and Nongpoh District Hospitals were lying unutilised due to lack of manpower. The situation at community health centres is worse with a shortage of 42 per cent, 48 per cent and 28 per cent in the posts of specialist doctors, general doctors and staff nurses, respectively.
The CAG observed that the selected CHCs do not have any sanctioned post for specialist doctors. One specialist doctor was, however, posted at Bhoirymbong CHC but surgeries or C-sections were not performed in any of the test-checked centres.
Irrational distribution
Primary health centres too are struggling with staff crunch of 9 per cent and 46 per cent in the posts of general doctors and staff nurses.
Though the CAG found manpower crisis in the selected PHCs, it stated that the distribution of doctors was irrational. The report says four of the selected PHCs had two doctors each while two PHCs did not have any doctor as a result of which the average number of deliveries during 2015-16 in the four PHCs with two doctors each was 102 and that at the two others was only 33.
The report added that shortage of medical and paramedical staff at the   health centres affected the goal of reliable and quality health services in rural areas, adding that the effect of the shortfalls was also observed during beneficiary survey as 24 percent of the women surveyed stated that they received ANC services from doctors and nurses while the remaining received it only from ANMs and ASHAs.