Hyderabad: OU health centre struggles without full-time doctors

OU health centre is relying on retired staff and contract workers, leaving students to seek medical care outside the campus.

Hyderabad: The health centre of the historic Osmania University is ailing. Facing significant challenges, it is operating without full-time doctors, following the superannuation of its only Chief Medical Officer in July this year.

The centre has been running the operations with the retired doctors and other health staff on a contract basis. While there were five doctors with four on contract basis, the one regular doctor, who was the chief medical officer, retired in the month of July.
Further, out of three nurses two have been working on the contract basis so are four pharmacists, three physiotherapists and two lab technicians.

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The university established the health centre to extend free medical treatment to students, teaching and non-teaching staff and their families. The centre provides services including general OP, Gynaecology, Cardiology, ENT, and Dental.
Students lamented that specialist doctors who are supposed to visit the centre thrice in a week have been visiting only once. Since there are no regular doctors, students said they are compelled to consult hospitals around the university vicinity.

“This issue of regular doctors has been persisting since long but with the superannuation of one regular doctor it went worse. In case of medical care or emergency, students are going to either RTC Hospital in Tarnaka or Gandhi Hospital. The university should appoint regular doctors,” said Satya Nelli, a PhD scholar at OU’s Political Science department.
The university officials who are aware of the issue urged the State government to allocate regular doctors to the health centre.

“Presently, retired doctors are extending services at the centre. We have already sent a proposal to the government seeking appointment of five regular doctors either through regular recruitment or appointment on deputation basis. We are awaiting response,” said senior officials.