Hyderabad: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found a large gap between the approved number of healthcare staff and the actual staff working in the State. There is a 45 percent overall vacancy in healthcare positions.
In its latest report on Public Health Infrastructure and Management of Health Services in Telangana State, the CAG noted that the Department of Health and Family Welfare has not kept a centralised database. This database should show the approved strength, actual personnel in positions, and district-wise deployment data of doctors, nurses, and other paramedical staff.
The report highlighted significant gaps between the sanctioned posts and the actual staff in healthcare facilities. The overall vacancy rate is 45 percent. Among the six Heads of Departments under the Health, Medical & Family Welfare (HM&FW) Department, the Director of Medical Education has the highest vacancy rate at 56 percent, while the Drugs Control Administration has the lowest at 34 percent.
There are also severe shortages of teaching staff in nine Medical Colleges. The overall vacancies are 48 percent for Associate Professors and 40 percent for Assistant Professors/Tutors. This shortage affects the quality of education for medical students.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) norms, there should be one doctor for every 1,000 people. From 2017-18 to 2021-22, the availability of doctors in Telangana improved, with a ratio of 1:881, which is better than the WHO standard.
The CAG recommended that the State Government create a Human Resource Policy focusing on short, medium, and long-term goals to address staff shortages. The government should review the manpower in all health institutions and ensure staff availability as per Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) norms. It also suggested developing a Human Resource Management System (HRMS) to monitor staff deployment in all health facilities in real-time.
