Government Doctors

Engaging in private practice during official duty hours by government doctors continues to remain a major issue, with the common citizen seeking healthcare support in government hospitals becoming the worst sufferer. The situation has turned so bad that the state health department in Assam has been compelled to instruct departmental district heads to take steps so that government doctors do not disappear during official duty hours and earn money in private hospitals. The state health department has also instructed the Joint Directors (who head the department at the district level) to regularly visit private hospitals and nursing homes and take action against government doctors who are found present there during such visits. Such an instruction from the state health department, however, does not seem to be an effective measure. This is particularly so because, though such instructions have been issued several times in the past, most government doctors skipping official duty to earn a quick buck in private establishments have by some means or another managed to go scot-free. One reason could be that those being asked to monitor the activities of government doctors and inspect private health establishments finally belong to the same stock as the offenders. The common assumption is that a government doctor found in a private establishment during official duty hours would face the music only if he or she had some personal issue with the inspecting official. It is also a fact that, in spite of instructions issued from time to time, government doctors often allegedly carry on their lucrative private practice right under the nose of their higher authorities. Reports indicate that a sizable section of private hospitals and nursing homes in Assam depend on government doctors to provide treatment to their patients. Under such circumstances, it is good that the government has also issued instructions to take action against private health establishments found engaging government doctors during official duty hours. What probably can help is to constitute a monitoring team comprising some members from outside the health department too. For instance, there can be a police officer, a good lawyer, and an honest social worker in such a team in order to make it really effective.