Govt hospitals in Ernakulam in desperate need of neurosurgeons

The lack of neurosurgeons in government hospitals in Ernakulam has forced patients to depend on private hospitals.

None of the hospitals in the district has a neurosurgeon, exposing the gaps in trauma care in the government sector. The delay in creating posts of doctors for super-specialty services continues even as the public are forced to depend on private hospitals.

At the Ernakulam General Hospital, the absence of doctors is not confined to neurosurgery wing alone. There are no doctors in gastroenterology and gastro-surgery departments. Senior hospital administrators said a neurosurgeon was appointed under the National Health Mission (NHM) programme earlier. But he resigned and joined a private hospital for better pay as the remuneration under the NHM was low compared to industry standards. Experienced neurosurgeons are much in demand in the private sector, they added.

The situation is no different at the Government Medical College, Ernakulam, which is yet to have doctors to handle super-specialty departments. The departments of urology, neurosurgery, gastroenterology, and gastro-surgery is yet to start functioning, thanks to non-availability of qualified personnel.

Though a referral hospital, the lack of experts often results in patients being referred to other hospitals. Hospital administrators said the process of creating posts in the super-specialty cadre was in progress. “There have been a few queries from the office of the Chief Minister in this regard. We hope that the process is in its final stages,” they added.

The urology department at the General Hospital is being run by availing the services of a surgeon from the North Paravur Taluk Hospital on a working arrangement pattern. According to officials, the post of neurologist has been remaining vacant after the transfer of a junior consultant. The Hindu