Health staff paid for sitting idle

Radhika D Srivastava / TNN / Jan 15, 2007, 03:37 IST

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While the government is paying for salaries of these defunct employees, it is also paying for private services.

PATNA: Till now, one had heard of deficient manpower in hospitals rendering health services ineffective. Now, it is the turn of surplus manpower spoiling things.
With the privatisation of several services in government health set-ups, hundreds of regular employees are sitting idle, twiddling their thumbs. Ambulance services have been privatised and as a result, government drivers do not have any work.
Similarly, laboratory assistants in district hospitals simply sign the attendance register and loll around. Pathological services have also been privatised at many places.
Though the government has gone ahead full pace with privatisation of services to improve the government health sector, it has not come up with any concrete plan to utilise the services of its surplus staff.

A doctor not wanting to be named said, "At many primary health centres (PHCs), subdivisional and district hospitals, several employees have been rendered workless."
At most PHCs, private ambulances have been hired at a cost of Rs 15,000. The main job of these vehicles is to ferry patients from the PHC to the district hospital on the recommendation of the doctor.
"Usually, the ambulance has to travel to the district not more than 10 times a month.

The ambulance is also to be paid for fuel charges every time it takes a patient," he said.
"It's a waste of resources. The government could have easily purchased an ambulance of its own and utilised the services of its driver," a doctor posted at the Maner PHC in Patna district said. At this PHC, a government driver is posted but has no work.
It is believed some of these drivers may be asked to do the work of peons. Similar is the situation with pathologists.
At many district hospitals, laboratory services have been handed over to private labs who have employed their own staff. Government pathologists at such hospitals have been left with neither a lab nor even an iota of work.
Even sweepers posted at PHCs and district hospitals face a peculiar situation. Always targeted for not keeping the hospitals clean, these sweepers now have no work. For, sanitation work has been outsourced to private groups.
A health department officer said, "On an average, five to six sweepers are available at every district hospital. With private sanitation workers cleaning the hospital corridors, the sweepers do not work."
He said, "While the government is paying for salaries of these defunct employees, it is also paying for private services. In a poor and backward state like Bihar, isn't this a colossal wastage of public money?"

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