Karam Prakash Patiala, December 3 Having a government job might be a cherished dream for many, but it’s not the case for doctors working in the District Health Department. A significant number of doctors of the department have already taken early retirement or resigned. Over the last three years, as many as 25, most of them pediatricians and gynecologists, have left the government job – as per the data, given by the District Health Department. Major reasons behind this worrisome trend are job stress, huge rush of patients, rising clerical work, harassment by senior officers, and fear of being attacked by the patients and their kin. Last month, a senior pediatrician and medicine specialist, posted at Government Mata Kaushalya Hospital, left the job citing stress and unnecessary harassment. Renu Aggarwal, Medical Superintendent, Mata Kaushalya Hospital, said, “I don’t know the exact reasons, however, both were hard working employees.” However, sources said one of the said doctors at the hospital was under heavy stress due to excessive workload. Dr Manjit Singh, a paediatrician, who left the job last year, said, “It is a highly stressful job. Even after attending 150-200 patients in a day, we may be called in the middle of the night. There is no personal life for a doctor in government job.” Navdeep Walia, a doctor, who left the job, last month, said, “I got demoralised due to false inquiries against me. I left the job owing to the poor administration. If things don’t change, more doctors will be leaving the profession in the future.” Walia said there were many doctors at the hospital who were working very hard, but the government was not rewarding them. This year, the government was finding it difficult to recruit specialist doctors even after throwing incentives. Many posts of medical specialist are still vacant. A gynecologist, who left the job two years ago, said, “Workload and fear of violence don’t let us work in this sector. Doctors are not taken care of well by the people at the helm.” Meanwhile, Patiala Civil Surgeon Harish Malhotra said, “In majority of the cases, doctors resigned owing to personal reasons. There were no incidents of a poor working environment.”

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