Doctors of GMCH won’t be allowed to do private practice anymore: Himanta

March 3: The doctors of Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) will not be allowed to engage in private practice. This was announced by Assam Health Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday in the State Legislative Assembly.

Dr. Sarma added that the doctors at the GMCH, will be entitled to a new pay-scale which is at par with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) doctors. Speaking at the ongoing Assembly session, the Minister said, “We are going to ban the private practice of GMCH doctors from Bohag Bihu. They will get the same salary and other amenities at par with the AIIMS in Delhi.”

Dr. Biswa Sarma further stated, “I have asked the doctors to resign if they wish to work at private nursing homes. Now we are going to make a distinction between the government and private sectors.”

The new dictate by the state government for the doctors should be seen in the backdrop of complaints received from patients who argue that the doctors working at GMCH refrain from giving enough time to their patients over there and rather try to spend more time in private hospitals which is more lucrative.

This comes amid complaints that GMCH doctors do not give enough time to the patients in the Government hospitals and their more lucrative assignments in the private sector keep them preoccupied, to the dismay of the common citizen. So in order to compensate the loss incurred by the doctors, the Health Minister has assured hike in the pay structure of the doctors of GMCH at par with that of AIIMS.