VISAKHAPATNAM: The cardiology department of the King George Hospital (KGH) here is facing dire staff shortage, forcing the existing two assistant professors to work ‘above and beyond’. It was all fine till 2011, when the hospital used to run three cardiology units and had several professors. But things took a murky turn with each retirement of these cardiology professors and subsequent reduction in services and closure of the units, bringing down the number to just one unit.
Currently, there are only one professor and two assistant professors at the department, instead of the required 12 doctors. Of these three doctors, the senior professor has been on a long leave and would reach his superannuation in December, which would further worsen the situation. According to the hospital authorities, about 300 outpatients and 25-30 patients on an inpatient basis turn up daily at the department.
“The two assistant professors are hard-pressed to treat the ever increasing number of patients. Last year, the department extended its services to about 95,000 patients. Moreover, the emergency cases require continuous medical supervision. We are very grateful to the staff and doctors at the department for the kind of services they are offering. But we cannot leave this heavy burden on the two assistant professors and PG medicos alone,” an official from the hospital said.
The services offered by the hospital include an ICU and cath lab, offering services ranging from angiogram, angioplasty and pacemaker implantation to valve surgeries, cardiothoracic surgeries, stent placement and other procedures. This year, the department had seen about 1,500 cath lab cases so far. The Andhra Medical College may also lose the two DM cardiology seats, if the government doesn’t recruit or allocate cardiology professors from other hospitals in the state after the retirement of the senior professor in December.
KGH superintendent Dr G. Arjuna said they had already apprised the government as well as officials of the prevailing situation at the department. “We hope that the hospital may get a few more professors in the coming months to fill the gap,” Dr Arjuna added.
