Karnataka's Health Department Inducts 1,763 Doctors, Specialists For Government Hospitals

Health and Family Welfare Department of Karnataka on Wednesday inducted 1,763 doctors and specialists newly recruited for the government hospitals across the state.

Addressing the doctors virtually, Karnataka Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar asked them to work with dedication and commitment to make healthcare services at government hospitals world-class and "strive hard to change people''s perception of government facilities."

K Sudhakar called the recruitment of doctors amidst the pandemic as "historic" and said, "this is the biggest recruitment drive taken up by the Government for the Health Department to recruit 1,763 doctors at a time."

"Secondly, this is the first time that the Department of Health and Family Welfare Department has recruited doctors directly as KPSC was handling the recruitment process earlier. Thirdly, this is also one of the quickest hiring drives by the Government. This large recruitment drive was completed in a record time of 6 months," he explained.

Appealing to the newly recruited doctors to work with commitment and honesty, the minister said, "Government hospitals are being looked down upon by many today. It is not without a reason. You will have to bring in fresh enthusiasm, energy, and attitude to government hospitals. The system can be changed, and government hospitals can become world-class. But it requires your commitment and determination."

K Sudhakar suggested five ''sutras'' to the newly onboarded doctors and said that the working of doctors should be patient-centricity, punctual, they should maintain quality of treatment, they should look after the upkeep of the hospitals and they should be honest and committed towards their job.

"Most of the patients who come to government hospitals seeking treatment belong to lower strata of our society. The purpose of Government hospitals is to ensure that these poor and marginalized people don't incur out-of-pocket expenditure to avail healthcare services. Doctors need to work as a bridge between government and people to fulfill this purpose," he added.

Encouraging the doctors to serve in rural areas, K Sudhakar also said that doctors have an important role to play in removing vaccine hesitancy.

On May 14, Dr Sudhakar had informed that the Karnataka government had recruited 1,763 doctors and general practitioners to strengthen the health sector.