A review meeting held in Rohtas on Monday exposed poor outpatient department (OPD) records at government hospitals, revealing that several doctors were allegedly attending to only two to three patients a day. This comes despite repeated instructions from the health department to improve OPD performance.
Review Meeting Highlights
The meeting, chaired by Civil Surgeon Dr. Mani Ranjan, examined OPD attendance and patient treatment records of doctors posted at various government hospitals across the district. It was found that many medical officers failed to meet the departmental benchmark of treating at least 100 patients in the OPD.
Low Patient Attendance
Officials said the district administration had set a target of ensuring adequate OPD services in all government hospitals. However, records presented during the meeting showed that 76 doctors did not achieve the required target, while several doctors were consistently registering extremely low patient attendance.
In one instance, a doctor posted at Sadar Hospital reportedly examined only 38 patients over 63 working days. Similar poor performance was also reported from Nasriganj and other government hospitals in the district.
Civil Surgeon's Response
The civil surgeon termed the issue serious and directed officials to conduct an inquiry into the alleged modus operandi behind the poor OPD performance. The department will also verify the authenticity of attendance and treatment records submitted by the doctors.
The review report highlighted that some doctors treated fewer than 100 patients even over extended duty periods. The health department has repeatedly instructed medical officers to improve OPD services, but compliance remains poor.
