Reason: After the unit’s only surgeon went on study leave for two years, the hospital appointed another professor to fill the gap. But the latter promptly went on an “extraordinary leave”, sanctioned by the Health ministry.

In their absence, critical cases coming to RML Hospital are being referred to Safdarjung Hospital; general surgeons, meanwhile, examine cases that are not very critical.

The hospital has two posts for paediatric surgeons and one post for an assistant professor in the teaching cadre.

The hospital’s lone paediatric surgeon, Dr Amita Sen, has been on study leave since 2006. Hospital authorities said the paediatric unit had to be closed down for some time following her departure. The hospital subsequently advertised the post and hired an assistant professor — Dr Shilpa Sharma.

But she, too, went on leave soon after joining. As a result, the unit was forced to remain non-functional again.

“She had applied for extraordinary leave to finish her thesis doing from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS),” a senior official in RML Hospital said.

Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr N K Chaturvedi said: “The Health ministry sanctioned her (Dr Sharma’s) leave; I cannot comment on that. The department is not functioning as of now but Dr Sen will soon be back from her study leave.

“We expect her to join by the first of August.”

But patient care, Dr Chaturvedi said, has not been affected much despite the absence of specialists in the paediatric unit. “We are not turning away patients,” he said. “Critical cases are referred to other hospitals but normal cases are looked at by our surgeons.”