New Delhi, Sept. 21: Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences may soon be allowed to engage in private practice to stop the exodus of top faculty to better paying jobs.
AIIMS officials told The Telegraph today that they had forwarded the recommendation, made by the faculty association, to the government for consideration under the Sixth Pay Commission.
But other doctors in AIIMS and senior health officials are warning that the proposed move would “irreparably” dilute the institute’s commitment to the poor.
“Once a doctor has a private clinic, he would tend to ask patients to visit him there. Those who can’t afford to, will be pushed off his radar,” Dr Anoop Saraya, a senior gastroenterologist at AIIMS, said.
AIIMS, described as one of the last healthcare hopes for the poor in India, has seen several faculty members quitting in recent years in favour of more lucrative opportunities in the private sector.
Citing the exodus, the AIIMS note said: “A faculty staff at AIIMS should charge fees/ honorarium for providing expert services, since his responsibilities at AIIMS are already burdensome.
“The AIIMS faculty is already engaged in several health care and policy related tasks outside of AIIMS, which are non-remunerative works and involve extra hours.”
Under the proposal, the faculty will be allowed to practise in private clinics for a certain number of hours in a week.
One third of the money they earn would go to the AIIMS fund (for patient care) and another one-third to a general pool for faculty benefits. The doctor would keep the rest. “It’s a win-win situation. Doctors earn more, the hospital earns more,” Dr Vinod Khaitan, the president of the AIIMS faculty association, said.
But some don’t agree. It would be natural for a doctor to give preference to patients who pay him more, said a senior health official who is on the AIIMS governing body.
“If I have two patients, it would be natural for me to attend to the one who has paid. I can’t keep him waiting, but the poor man, who hasn’t paid, can wait,” the official said.
