Fill vacant posts in govt hospitals: O Panneerselvam

CHENNAI: Expelled AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam (OPS) demanded the intervention of Chief Minister MK Stalin to fill the vacant posts in government hospitals. Almost 35% of the sanctioned posts are vacant across the State, he said.

As against the sanctioned post of 18,000 doctors in the government hospitals in the State, 5,000 posts are lying vacant, he said. The government doctors' associations and representatives are hinting that the vacancy would further increase, OPS added. This in turn would increase the workload on the existing workforce, leading to fatigue among doctors, Panneerselvam said in a statement.

An insufficient number of doctors would pose a challenge to extend quality health care to the people, Panneerselvam said. "Similarly, posts of several hundreds of teaching facilities in government medical colleges are vacant, he said. It would compromise the quality of teaching," he further said and also flagged that several doctors were denied timely promotions before their retirements.

The government should take a comprehensive approach to improve the health sector in the state to guarantee quality teaching to the medical students in the medical colleges, quality treatment to the people and improve the working culture by filling up the vacant posts of doctors, the former CM made an appeal.