By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Feb 24: In order to fill the vacancies left by doctors pursuing training, the state government has appointed 46 medical and health officers and one junior specialist on contractual basis. More doctors will be appointed as the hiring process will continue, Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said.
The government is encouraging in-service physicians to pursue advanced degrees as well as special courses of study in a professional or technical subject that has a direct and close connection to the area of their duty in order to address the state’s shortage of specialists.
Lyngdoh recently stated that there is a significant shortage of specialist doctors compared to the state’s need for them, and that recruiting them remains a difficult task as medical specialists do not want to work in Meghalaya.
“We are having a hard time finding specialists who want to come to Meghalaya, and if by any chance we happen to find one, they have to pass the scrutiny of the reservation policy, and questions arise if the jobs are given outside the purview of the policy. So that ties us down as a state,” she had stated.
The minister had made the statement while responding to a query about making cancer treatment available and affordable in the state.
She said that although there is still a shortage of specialists, the hiring process has begun.
She claims that the state government has started offering certified short-term programmes to doctors that will allow them to return to the hospital to perform their duties.
Anaesthetists, surgeons, gynaecologists, and other medical professionals are needed, and incentives for physicians to practise in Meghalaya should be reexamined, according to her.
In addition, she stated that, in spite of the state’s difficulties, the government still needs to reconsider how to attract experts to work here in order to guarantee improved healthcare facilities.