The Uttar Pradesh state government has been encouraged by the Association of Re-employed Government Doctors (ARGD) to increase the upper age restriction for rehiring retired physicians from 65 to 70 years old. This proposal is a part of a broader effort to solve the state’s healthcare system’s persistent medical professional shortage. With over 7,000 open medical positions out of 19,000 authorized positions, the state is now experiencing a severe shortage of medical personnel. Only 12,000 of these posts are inhabited at the moment, despite efforts to fill them. To assist offset the deficit, the government has created more jobs for retired physicians in response to the shortage, but the impact has been minimal.
A remedy to the personnel shortage was the rehiring of retired physicians. The program has encountered difficulties, nonetheless, mainly with regard to the low number of doctors returning from higher administrative levels (Level IV and beyond). This is partly due to the fact that administrative employees can continue to work until they become 65, even though the statutory retirement age for doctors is 62. The efficiency of the program has been hampered by the fact that many of these seasoned physicians are not utilizing the reemployment option in spite of this clause.
The state government has added 1,000 new positions for retired physicians in an effort to address the staffing gap. At the moment, 500 of these jobs are for specialists, and the remaining 500 are for MBBS physicians. Due to a serious scarcity of medical services, many physicians are re-employed in district hospitals around the state. Furthermore, doctors can continue to practice until they become 70 because to contracts offered by the National Health Mission (NHM). More than 300 re-employed physicians are currently working in Uttar Pradesh’s district hospitals, helping to address the shortfall of medical staff.
The ARGD stressed the significance of raising the reemployment age to 70 in a letter to the president of the Provincial Medical Services Association, claiming that doing so would increase the pool of qualified medical professionals and increase the efficacy of the reemployment program. The State Health Directorate has received the letter and will review it further. The ARGD thinks that by increasing the age limit, the state will be able to better utilize the knowledge and skills of retired physicians, which would be particularly helpful in solving the severe lack of healthcare personnel in government-run hospitals.
SOURCE :
HINDUSTAN TIMES
