50% psychiatrist posts vacant in Maha hospitals

MUMBAI: Maharashtra’s public health care system is facing an acute dearth of mental health professionals with more than half of the posts of psychiatrists vacant. Of the 177 sanctioned positions of psychiatrists in 34 districts across the state, 91 are yet to be filled, data obtained by Hindustan Times from the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) has revealed.

These vacancies are across the state’s regional mental hospitals located in Thane, Pune, and Ratnagiri, as well as in all the district hospitals, which also house the teams of the District Mental Health Programme (DHMP) funded by the Centre and Prerna Prakalp, the state’s programme to address farmer suicides.

According to the DHS, of the 85 sanctioned positions of Class I psychiatrists, 69 are currently vacant. All the 33 posts of Class II psychiatrists are filled. Under the DHMP, which is a part of the Centre’s National Mental Health Programme (NMHP), there are 41 sanctioned posts, but only 30 are filled while 11 remain vacant.

Seven out of the nine posts under the Prerna Prakalp programme are also currently vacant.

At a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues, a shortage of mental health professionals in Maharashtra will have an impact on patients going undiagnosed and untreated. While a few may seek help from private practitioners, many would fall in the gap and never seek medical help at all.

“We have been constantly trying to fill the vacant posts, but many of the psychiatrists who come for interviews don’t eventuNagpur ally take up the postings,” said Dr Sadhana Tayade, director of DHS. “In order to tackle the shortage of psychiatrists, we have started mental health training for MBBS doctors from the primary health centres in districts,” she said. This training began in November 2019, Tayade said.

One of the possible reasons for the vacancies could be that the salary bracket of psychiatrists in Maharashtra is lower than the Centre’s. The classes indicate seniority, work experience and qualification but some of the Class I positions have been vacant for the past several years.

“Class I psychiatrists at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) that falls under the Union Health Ministry will have starting salaries of about Rs 1.5 lakh,” said Dr Arun Marwale, president of the western region of Indian Psychiatric Society, an organisation of psychiatrists in India with over 7000 members. In Maharashtra, the salaries of Class I psychiatrists start from Rs 85,000 and Class II starts from Rs 65,000. “Because of lower pay, many psychiatrists prefer getting jobs in the private sector.”