Rohit Shishodia
Thirty six hours continuous duty and non-provision of regular residential facilities are issues which take a toll on the health of resident doctors in Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.

The doctors at IGMC lament that they end up with health issues such as insomnia and depression when they are directed to perform duty continuously for thirty six hours at a stretch, which violate guidelines of the Medical Council of India (MCI).

They said that not only working hours but also untimely payment of stipend makes things complicated for them. They stay in rented accommodations and their landlord asks for timely payment of the rent. This is not possible when the doctors themselves do not get stipend in time. The college administration has recently said that there is no budget for payment of stipend and nobody knows when they will get their stipend this month.

Dr Ajay Jaryal, Representative, United RDA-India, IGMV, told DTMT “Around 150-200 resident doctors do not have hostel facility in the college. They provide hostel facility in second or third year only. But MCI says every resident doctor should get residence because he should be available twenty four hours for medical care and there should be residential facility near or inside the hospital.”

“We have to perform thirty six hours duty continuously, including twenty four hours in emergency. This is against the SC’s ruling which says that nobody should perform duty more than twelve hours continuously. This includes duty in OT, emergency and OPDs. This causes depression and insomnia. An unhealthy doctor cannot treat patients. Due to long working hours, we also lack in academics, as we don’t have time for study,” added Dr Jaryal.