AAMC: Delhi govt directs doctors to give prior notice before taking leave

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s health department directed doctors of Aam Admi Mohalla Clinic (AAMC) to give prior notice before taking any

leaves, and has also asked to submit leave reports of all paramedical staff working in their respective Mohalla Clinic. State Nodal Officer of AAMC Cell, Dr Shalley Kamra, issued directions to all Chief District Medical Officers (CDMO) regarding

leaves taken by doctors and other staff at Mohalla Clinics in the country’s capital.

An official document said that the doctors of Mohalla Clinics have been taking leave without any prior notice or they have been informing on the day of leave. This affects the functioning of clinics as lack of doctors affects the treatment of patients who frequently visits the clinic.

According to an official notice the staff at the Mohalla Clinics have been directed to inform authorities about their leave three days prior to the actual day of leave, except in the case of medical emergencies. The doctors will now have to send a copy of their leave application to a registered email address along with informing the respective CDMO. The notice also states that doctors will have to submit leave reports of all paramedical staff from now on.

A senior official of Health Department said, “The Delhi government is very serious about the attendance of doctors. We have observed that many doctors are taking unnecessary leaves and also without any information of the authorities. We believe that any cost we have to stop this situation because we are committed to provide good health care to people. The leaves taken by doctors in large numbers affects the functioning of the clinics especially those clinics that are in highly populated areas and cater to large number of patients”.

A source in the Health Department said, “There are 302 functioning Mohallla Clinics in the city right now. Some of these clinics are in populated areas and hence see a

large number of patients. We have identified 56 such clinics that cater to 120 plus Out Patient Department (OPD) in a day. We have extended the shifts of 30 Mohalla Clinics which are now functioning from 8 am to 8 pm.” “When doctors take leave suddenly it puts us in a spot because patients come and do not get their due treatment. Ideally, we would get a doctor from the dispensary to fill in but since the number of doctors taking leave started increasing it became difficult. Let’s say, if eight doctors take

leave on a given day then if affects around 1,000 patients,” the source added.