Mumbai: The state of municipal suburban hospitals in the city has seen little improvement over the years, as over 90% of technicians remain in the same position for two decades, despite official regulations mandating transfers every three years.
This stagnation has raised serious concerns about internal favoritism and lack of enforcement from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), with many questioning whose favouritism has allowed these employees to remain in one place for so long.
The BMC’s rules, reinforced by circulars issued periodically, emphasize the need for a transparent transfer process. These transfers are meant to be corruption-free, allowing technicians to gain experience across multiple hospitals, thereby ensuring that skills are distributed evenly across the city's healthcare system. Despite these directives, no significant action has been taken to enforce the policy, and disciplinary measures against those responsible for non-compliance appear absent.
More than 90% of laboratory technicians in 16 suburban hospitals have not been transferred, despite the requirement for rotation every three years. Among the approximately 160 laboratory technicians, 40 assistants, and 10 junior scientific officers across these hospitals, only 10 individuals have been rotated, with the remainder holding their positions for 20 to 22 years.
Sources reveal that Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Hospital in Kandivali has retained 15 technicians and three junior scientific officers without transfers, while Bandra’s Bhabha Hospital has 12 long-serving technicians. Rajawadi Hospital has 18, and MT Agarwal Hospital in Mulund continues to house four technicians and three assistants, with no transfers in years. Several other hospitals, including Kurla’s Bhabha Hospital, Shatabdi Hospital in Govandi, and others, share similar issues, with technicians and assistants remaining untransferred for extended periods.
This failure to transfer staff is not without consequences. Kurla’s Bhabha Hospital is struggling to meet its workload with only four technicians sharing the burden in shifts. Laboratory services in MT Agarwal Hospital and Krantiveer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Hospital in Vikhroli run only from 8 AM to 4 PM, and not all tests are available due to manpower shortages. At Kandivali's Shatabdi Hospital, the blood bank's night shift has been discontinued due to a lack of qualified staff and the necessary Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals.
Attempts to contact Dr. Vipin Sharma, Additional Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, and Dr. Chandrakant Pawar, Medical Superintendent of the suburban hospitals, for comment have gone unanswered.
The lack of regular transfers has serious ramifications. Technicians who remain in one post for extended periods do not gain the necessary experience to adapt to new challenges, leaving departments vulnerable when senior staff retire. This, in turn, results in vacant positions, strained resources, and disruptions to patient care. The failure to rotate staff has left hospitals under-equipped, with a clear impact on the quality of care available to patients.
In some cases, entire departments risk closure due to the absence of skilled personnel. Kandivali's Shatabdi Hospital is already experiencing a crisis, with its blood bank night shift operations being halted due to insufficient staffing.
Despite the looming challenges and the growing impact on patient services, the BMC has yet to take effective action to address these systemic issues. With many technicians remaining in their roles far beyond the recommended tenure, the broader concern of how the city’s healthcare system can sustainably support its population remains unanswered.
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