Biometric system to control doctors: Telangana
A number of senior doctors are not available after 2 pm at the government hospitals
Hyderabad: The issue of biometric attendance for doctors and para-medical staff has once again come to the fore after the government received complaints that doctors were not available to treat children at Niloufer Hospital.
A senior official of the state health department said that some parents took away their children as there were no doctors.
A number of senior doctors are not available after 2 pm at the government hospitals. While the state government wants to implement the biometric attendance system, there is stiff resistance from doctors, the official said.
Doctors claim that they sign the attendance register but they have to leave early as they also teach at colleges and some of them are working on research projects with students. But a senior doctor admitted, “These conditions are applicable to teaching professors and researchers and not for those who opt for private practice after 2 pm.”
“Some months back, CM K. Chandrashekar Rao visited had visited Fever Hospital and found there were no senior doctors. However, action was stalled by the Telangana Doctors Association who put up strong resistance with the director of health and medical education,” he said. But an official claimed that the government would be strict this time and push through the system.
A senior health department official said, “If the government hospitals have to improve, all doctors must be present there till 4 pm. Right now, only about 10 per cent are present from morning till late night while the others are off by early afternoon.”