Only one person had applied for the job last year but did not join.

The departments of Thoracic & Cardio-vascular Surgery, Geriatric Medicines, and Rheumatology have a single doctor each. All have to shut down whenever these doctors are on leave.

* Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Hospital in Lucknow needs eight anaesthetists. It has only two. The lack of anaesthetists is holding up operations, even though there are 23 surgeons and five Operation Theatres.

These are not isolated cases. This crisis of specialists and doctors cuts across all hospitals all over Uttar Pradesh.

Less than 700 doctors joined the services last year against a requirement of 1,200 by the Public Service Commission. Against a requirement of around 450 specialists, hardly 65 joined.

Despite various incentives announced by the state government from time to time, lack of interest among specialists to join state health services or to be part of health department in any manner pervades.

The most recent attempt by the Chief Medical Officer, Lucknow, in February to appoint some specialists on a contract basis under NRHM also failed miserably. To add insult to injury, the CMO office received fewer applications than the posts advertised for. Against the requirement of 21 people, just 12 applied for the posts of anaesthetists, gynaecologists and paediatricians, leaving the department with no option but to employ them all.

Dr AK Shukla, Chief Medical Officer, Lucknow, told The Indian Express: “We had advertised requirement for four anaesthetists, eight gynaecologists and four paediatricians. But only two anaesthetists, 6 gynaecologists and four paediatricians applied.”

Dr Shukla has now formed a panel of these two anaesthetists, who can be called in by any hospital for Rs 1000 per surgery.

The situation being worse in rural areas, last year, the Health Directorate had announced a monthly incentive of Rs 5,000 to doctor couples who agree to shift to rural areas. There were no takers.

“Why should doctors join state health services, if they get triple the money in the private sector? Plus, in the latter, there is a better work environment, less workload and the right kind of experience,” said Dr DP Mishra, president of the Provincial Medical and Health Service Association.

“The UP government

pays less than most states, the patient load is unmanageable, one has to manage national programmes and then do the clerical work,” he added.

Specialists who get around Rs 21,000 in provincial medical services, easily get anything above Rs 40,000 in private sector.

General cadre doctors get double the amount they are offered in state health services.

The situation, Mishra said, becomes worse when doctors are not given duty as per their specialisation.

Health minister Anant Kumar Mishra said the state government will do its best for the doctors, but they will have to understand that they cannot just think about monetary gains while entering into this service.

“I will not hesitate in making a public appeal to doctors to come forward and join the services keeping aside the monetary gains in mind,” he added.