The Ministry of Health issued a notice on Wednesday, directing doctors working in government hospitals appointed by the Ministry of Health and Population in accordance with the Procedure for Selection of Medical Scholarships and Mobilization of Scholarship-Receiving Specialist Doctors in Government Educational Institutions, 2072, not to work outside the home.
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The Lumbini provincial government has decided not to allow doctors working on contract at various government hospitals after studying on scholarships to work in outside clinics.
The Ministry of Health issued a notice on Wednesday, directing doctors working in government hospitals appointed by the Ministry of Health and Population in accordance with the Procedure for Selection of Medical Scholarships and Mobilization of Specialist Doctors Receiving Scholarships in Government Educational Institutions, 2072, not to work outside.
Provincial Health Minister Khem Bahadur Saru said that the government has started listening to complaints that specialist doctors who studied on scholarships and were on contract and worked outside the relevant places for less time.
‘The government has made a huge investment for doctors studying on scholarships, and on top of that, they have been assigned to work with a fixed salary,’ he said, ‘Services must be provided according to the salary.’ He said that after receiving complaints from all sides, the first phase started with doctors on contract in specialist fields.
Ministry's Division Chief Nid Narayan Chaudhary said that specialist doctors appointed in government educational institutions as per the Medical Scholarship Selection and Scholarship-Receiving Specialist Doctors Mobilization Procedure, 2072 BS and deployed in provincial hospitals have been informed that there is a provision in Sub-section 1 (h) of Section 16 of the said procedure that they should not provide private medical services during their service period and that their license will be suspended in Sub-section 3 if they violate the provisions of Sub-section 1 (h).
The procedure has a provision that the license of a doctor who disobeys the government's instructions can be revoked. 'Therefore, we have strictly written to the hospitals to implement the government's instructions,' he said. 'We are preparing to monitor again within 15 days and implement the instructions and address the complaints.'
He said that the ministry has received complaints that doctors who studied on scholarships and were appointed on contract are spending more time in private clinics than in government services in Butwal, Bhairahawa, Kapilvastu, Dang, Banke and other districts of the Tarai. Around 100 doctors in Lumbini Province are currently working on one-year contracts with scholarship facilities.
