8-hour duty minimum for all docs in state-run hospitals & medical colleges

Kolkata: The state Health department has issued a notification, announcing the new duty schedule for doctors at all the medical colleges, mandating the doctors to devote 8 hours per day.

The new duty rosters will be corroborated with biometric attendance system, which the state government has proposed to introduce.

One of the main objectives is to fix the accountability of the doctors at the state-run hospitals and thereby to ensure better health services to a huge number of patients, who depend on the government establishments.

According to the government notification, the doctors have to devote a minimum of 48 hours in a week. They will be able to avail an off day in a week, as per the roster. The on-call duty of the registered medical officers (RMO) and the junior doctors are, however, not included within the prescribed duty hours.

If duty hours are less than 8 hours a day and more than 7 and half hours, it will be marked as half CL (casual leave) for the doctors. If the duty hours are less than 7 and half hours a day, it will be marked as absent.

If there are more than 14 CLs in a year for any individual, they will be adjusted from EL (earned leave). If ELs are exhausted, penalty will be deducted from salary. If a doctor exhausts all his/her leaves, he/she may be deprived of salary.

The notification also says that the first shift for doctors will be between 9 am – 5 pm. If a doctor joins duty 15 minutes after the shift starts, he/she will be marked as late and he will be liable to join the next shift starting from 9.30 am. The next shift will start from 10 am and will continue till 6 pm, while the last shift will continue from 11 am to 7 pm.

All the principals and medical superintendents have been instructed to conduct fingerprint enrollment under the biometric attendance system. All the city's medical college hospitals will conduct the enrollment for two days from June 13-14. North Bengal Medical College and Hospital and Midnapore Medical College and Hospital will also carry out the enrollment on the same days.

Beliaghata ID Hospital, Bangur Institute of Neuroscience, Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, School of Tropical Medicine and BC Roy Institute of Pediatric Science will hold enrollment on June 15, whereas Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, Malda Medical College and Hospital and College of Medicine and Sagore Dutta Hospital will hold the enrollment for two days on June 18 and 19.

There were some complaints coming from the medical colleges that some doctors do not visit the hospitals on a regular basis, while some others do not enter the hospitals on time, affecting the health services.

It may also be mentioned that biometric attendance system has already been installed in various government departments. Now, the doctors at the state-run medical colleges and hospitals and in the districts will also be brought under the ambit of the system.