The current pandemic has brought public health to the forefront like never before. India's public health systems are operating beyond their intended capacity, facing critical shortages in both medical personnel and essential equipment. Uttarakhand, too, grapples with numerous challenges in this regard. As a part of an ongoing study, SDC has prepared a detailed analysis of districts and specialist doctors in the state that will be shared in three stages over the coming weeks. The study highlights the availability of 15 types of specialist doctors across Uttarakhand's 13 districts, based on RTI data obtained from the Dept. of Medical, Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of Uttarakhand.
Part 3
Less than 50% availability in 10 types of specialist doctors in Uttarakhand.
Not a single eye surgeon in Champawat against three approved positions while Dehradun has 11 in place against six approved posts.
Forensic, skin and psychologist doctors remain the least available in the state. There is only 1 forensic expert in the state out of the approved posts of 25 doctors, 4 skin specialists out of 32 and 4 psychiatrists out of 28. Out of 1147 approved posts for specialist doctors in the state, only 493 specialist doctors are available in Uttarakhand. According to the RTI data, 654 specialist doctor positions are yet to be filled as of 30th April, 2021.
The study shows a great imbalance between the distribution of specialist doctors amongst the districts. For example, there are no eye surgeons in the hill district of Champawat as against 3 approved positions whereas 11 eye surgeons are working in Dehradun as against the 6 approved positions.
“This is one of the major findings as per our study. We need to relook at the IPHS framework on distribution of medical workforce in the state. The study has clearly highlighted that hill districts are worst affected in terms of availability of specialist doctors compared to plain districts. We need to work out a strategy on evenly distributing the workforce of specialist doctors. This will ensure proper access to the health facilities”, says SDC Founder Anoop Nautiyal.
Hill districts worst affected
Pauri with 5 out of 22, Almora 4 out of 18, Pithoragarh 2 out of 8, Chamoli 1 out of 8 and Tehri with 1 out of 14, have the least number of child specialists. Similarly, only 1 gynaecologist is available in Bageshwar out of 5, 4 out of 22 in Pauri, 2 out of 15 in Tehri and 1 out of 9 in Chamoli. Chamoli and Champawat have no public health experts whereas Pauri has only 1 public health expert as against the approved 14 posts.
“Shortage of specialist doctors along with lack of basic health infrastructure has become a major issue for the hill districts of the state. It is time for political leadership and bureaucrats to address this issue and work on recognizing the Right to Health. People living in hills should have equitable access to public health services”, says Rishabh Shrivastava, Lead – Research and Communications, SDC Foundation.
As per the study, only 1 forensic expert out of 25 approved posts is working in Dehradun with the other 12 districts having no forensic expert. Only 4 skin experts are working in Uttarakhand out of the 32 approved posts.
“While the government has rightly placed a lot of focus on strengthening infrastructure in the wake of Covid 19; a similar sense of urgency has been lacking when it comes to appointment of specialist doctors. There is a need to critically examine why Uttarakhand has failed to recruit specialist doctors, draw lessons out of this and make renewed efforts at strengthening the specialist doctor availability in the state”, says Vidush Pandey, Associate, Research and Advocacy, SDC Foundation.
