Rising Covid-19 cases, yet little plans for more manpower

Ranchi: State health minister Banna Gupta directed the management of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) to hire contractual healthcare professionals in the wake of a spurt in Covid-19 cases in Jharkhand.
Gupta also asked the hospital management to press doctors into other duties to cater to the indoor patients as the outpatient departments (OPD) are recording a poor turnout.
Gupta’s directives to Rims came at a time when Jharkhand’s state-run health services are struggling with shortages of doctors, paramedics and technicians amid the growing numbers of Covid-19 cases. The health department also appears to not have a blueprint for mitigating the manpower crisis at this point.
“The number of patients coming to Rims for treatment is below normal. So, I instructed the hospital that manpower of other departments be reassigned to Covid-19 duties as per requirement. Also, the hospital has been directed to outsource manpower if necessary,” Gupta told reporters after chairing a meeting of the Covid-19 task force.
A Medical Council of India (MCI) study had claimed Jharkhand, which has around 3.5 crore people, has a shortage of 22,500 doctors. As per the state health department’s estimates, Jharkhand has a little over 20,000 paramedical staff. “Looking at the rise in cases, we will require at least 25,000 more,” an official said on the condition of anonymity.
When asked about the state’s plans to increase manpower amid the pandemic, health secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni refused to comment.
Sources in the department, however, said an advertisement seeking applications to 842 vacant posts in the state health services will be floated this week. The vacancies include medical officers, specialist doctors and technicians, among others. “We are also banking on 200 doctors, who offered to volunteer for us if necessary. These doctors have enrolled from various parts of the country,” a senior official said.
Meanwhile, Ranchi deputy commissioner Chhavi Ranjan on Monday told the city’s private hospitals that asymptomatic patients under their care will be moved to hotels which will be set up as Covid care centres. In a statement issued by the district public relations office, Ranjan was quoted instructing hospital owners to prepare a blueprint for the same.