Kanhangad: The lack of sufficient Casualty Medical Officers in the Emergency Department of Kanhangad District Hospital is disrupting the hospital's functioning. Currently, only 6 Casualty Medical Officer posts have been sanctioned here, with only 2 permanent doctors among them.

For the smooth functioning of the Emergency Department, which needs to operate in three shifts, 8 Casualty Medical Officers are required. Temporary appointments are being made for the 4 vacant Medical Officer posts. The frequent rotation of doctors without sufficient experience is affecting the quality of treatment in the Emergency Department, points out the Kerala Government Medical Officers' Association (KGMOA) district hospital unit.

As there are no better hospitals in the district, the common people rely on the District Hospital. Patients are also referred to the District Hospital from other government hospitals in the district. Therefore, it is essential to increase the posts in the highly critical Emergency Department to 8 and make permanent appointments. The frequent rotation of doctors is affecting the hospital's functioning. With the introduction of speciality departments, including Cardiology and Neurology, the number of people relying on the Emergency Department has increased.

However, permanent appointments have not been made in the Emergency Department. Doctors for the six vacant posts in the speciality departments were appointed as part of work arrangements. There is also a strong demand to implement the triage system as per the new guidelines. The demand to sanction a Forensic Surgeon's post in the District Hospital, where more than 150 post-mortems are conducted annually, has also not been considered yet.

KGMOA unit submitted a petition to District Medical Officer Dr A V Ramdas, highlighting these issues. The petition demanded the urgent conduct of Casualty Medical Officers' appointments entirely through the PSC (Public Service Commission), along with the sanctioning of two new posts.

The petition also demanded making available the services of medical interns and foreign medical graduates at the District Hospital, and ensuring the services of existing doctors from Tata Hospital in this hospital to find a solution to the problem.