The Quint Impact: 21 Absent Doctors Suspended in Shopian Hospital

After a report by The Quint on the absymal state of a government hospital in Shopian, 21 doctors have been suspended.

Established in 1977 as a sub-district hospital, the facility was upgraded as a District Hospital in 2008 when Shopian was carved out of Pulwama as a separate district. (Photo: Sumegha Gulati)

The Medical Superintendent and 20 other doctors of Shopian District Hospital in South Kashmir were suspended on Saturday following a surprise inspection ordered by the Deputy Commissioner’s office.

Copy of the order that suspended the 21 doctors. (Photo Courtesy: Sumegha Gulati)

The suspension comes two days after The Quint reported how a citizens’ initiative ‘Shopian Health Aid’ was trying to save the crumbling District Hospital from government apathy and neglect.

Also Read: How Citizens Are Saving The District Hospital in Shopian

The inspection reportedly took place at 3:30 pm on Saturday when a team of officials led by the Assistant Commissioner of Revenue landed at the hospital for a “surprise check”. According to an eyewitness, all “staff of the hospital” was asked to enter and the “doors were closed shut”. The officials then took attendance of all staffers.

A Hospital With No Doctors

Speaking to The Quint over phone from Kashmir, Deputy Commissioner Ghulam Mohammad Dar confirmed that out of 26 doctors working at the Shopian District Hospital, 21 were found absent – including the Medical Superintendent – and suspended with immediate effect.

We were conducting an inspection of all health institutions in the district. Since these doctors were found absent, action had to be taken against them and thus, they were suspended. Health is a primary sector and we cannot compromise on the functionality of doctors. I have ordered for one day’s salary to be deducted from their pay as a reprimand so that a clear signal goes out that such behaviour shall not be tolerated.

Deputy Commissioner Ghulam Mohammad Dar

The main signboard of the District Hospital Shopian. (Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Shopian Health Aid)

A chargesheet will now be issued against the offenders and they will subsequently be asked to submit their responses. Those who have a reasonable cause for their absence may be considered for reinstatement. However, those with no “satisfactory explanation” shall not be reinstated.

Doctor’s Version: Night Shifts and Strikes to Blame

When contacted, Medical Superintendent Dr Muneer said there was a strike in the valley on Saturday, which led to the absence of many doctors.

“No transport was plying – there were hardly any buses or trains running.” Contradicting Dar’s statements, Muneer claimed that seven doctors were “physically present” at the hospital at the time of inspection and only 19 were “physically absent”.

According to him, of these 19 doctors, five are “attached” to the Shopian District Hospital from other institutions. They reportedly spend only three working days – from Monday to Wednesday – at the district hospital while the other three working days at their own institutions.

Of the remaining, four doctors were on night duty offs - meaning that they had served their duties on Friday night and were relieved only at 10 am on Saturday morning. Other four doctors had to reportedly serve the night shift which would only begin at 4 pm and end at 10 am on Sunday.

“Since the inspection was carried out between 3:30-3:45 pm, it was not yet time for the doctors on night shift to report for duty”, Muneer said. Three others were reportedly on “sanctioned leave”. The remaining three Muneer said had “left 15 minutes early” owing to the strike.

I stay in the hospital’s quarters from Monday to Saturday and am available round the clock for the institution. On Saturday evening, after completing my duty till 4 pm, I leave for my home in Srinagar. We all left slightly earlier today thinking that transport could become a problem if we left too late.

Medical Superintendent Dr Muneer

Muneer also emphasized difficult working conditions and said the doctors should have been given a chance to provide an explanation.

Nobody considers when doctors work overtime on so many days. On my way to Srinagar, I got the message that a two-year old rescued from drowning had been brought to the hospital. I immediately rushed back. also met the inspection officials but they were not ready to listen to any of our explanations. They should not have suspended the doctors like this. We should first have been served a show-cause notice

Medical Superintendent Dr Muneer

More Than an Immediate Reaction Required

Lawyer Habeel Iqbal, one of the chief campaigners to save the district hospital, told Quint that the suspension was “long overdue”.

“I hope this is not just an immediate reaction. Our demands of reshuffling the staff at the hospital and increase in staff strength still remain. Periodically transferring the staff will lead to better performance, we believe.”

The group has also demanded timely release of funds for the upcoming new building of the district hospital.

The Shopian District Hospital caters to a population of over 2.5 lakh. In an RTI response previously this month, it was found that the hospital had just 30 beds – way below the minimum standard of 100 as per the revised guidelines issued in 2012 by the Indian Public Health Standards.

It also falls short of enough doctors and paramedic staff as well as necessary equipments such as CT scan machines, basic cardiac monitors and sufficient operating tables.