Delhi govt offers incentives to hire specialists for ICU wards
NEWDELHI: The Delhi government is considering to offer a host of incentives such as bonuses, health insurance for the family, and commendations to draw trained medical professionals to staff intensive care units in government hospitals, officials familiar with the matter said.
The suggestions have been put up to the Delhi cabinet and will be sent to the lieutenant governor for approval, the officials said.
The Centre on Tuesday gave 575 ventilators to Delhi. Delhi already has 789 ventilator beds in its Covid-19 facilities, but there is a shortage of specialists to provide care to critical patients.
“The intensive care unit is not about just getting a bed and putting on a machine, adequate number of doctors and nurses are needed to continuously monitor the patients. There is a shortage of trained staff and even though the hospitals have advertised the posts, nobody is really willing to join. Why should they? The salary is the same, there is no additional incentive, and they have to work with corona-affected patients in challenging circumstances. This is the reason why the government is looking at various measures to address the shortage,” said an official from Delhi’s health department, on condition of anonymity.
The shortage of trained staff was one of the major reasons for delays in scaling-up ICU facilities in Delhi government hospitals, as per health minister-level discussions held two weeks ago. With over 70% of ICU beds earmarked for treating Covid patients in the city – in government and private hospitals – already occupied, the Delhi govt is working on augmenting facilities in its hospitals.
Currently, there are 1,693 ICU beds in the city, of which 789 have ventilators, according to the Delhi Corona app. Of these, 197 ventilators are in three Delhi government-run hospitals and 185 in Centre-run hospitals.
The government had decided to recruit final year students of MD/MS/ DNB (post-graduate medical courses) and final year student of undergraduate and postgraduate nursing courses to staff the hospitals, in the health minister-level discussions held two weeks ago.the government had hired 700 nurses through Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board, according to another official.
“The students will not have to wait for results f the examination and will qualify for posts of resident doctors on submission of a certificate of having given the exam from their colleges,” said Dr Verma.