IGMH faces serious shortage of doctors

State hospital, Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) has said that it is facing a serious shortage of doctors.

Head of IGMH Dr Mohamed Habeeb told Sun Online that the shortage of doctors causes serious difficulties in providing health services.

He said that the most serious is the situation with paediatricians, as the hospital currently has only three paediatricians. He said that the hospital also has only four anaesthesiologists and only three radiologists.

“The biggest shortage is in the paediatric department. We have only three paediatricians, and out of them one is away on training and the other works in Hulhumale’ Hospital. And we have only four anaesthesiologists, and some of them are here only on short-term,” he said.

Dr Habeeb said that work is ongoing to solve the problem of shortage of doctors by bringing in more doctors, but serious difficulties are being encountered in bringing doctors to the Maldives.

He said that problems in this regard include the low salaries in the Maldives which are not accepted by doctors, and the failure to provide a safe environment for doctors.