PANAJI
The only institution for mental health in the State -- The Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour (IPHB) -- which is housed at Bambolim suffers from a severe staff crunch at the basic level.
As many as 71 positions of staff nurses, multi-tasking staff (MTS), attendants and psychiatric patient caretakers are vacant in the institution.
Health Minister Vishwajit Rane told the Goa Legislative Assembly in a written reply that 28 positions of ‘staff nurse’ have remained vacant in the IPHB.
The information was supplied by Rane in response to a query posed by AAP’s Velim MLA Cruz Silva and RGP’s St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar.
Silva and Borkar had sought the details of vacancies that are yet to be advertised in the Health Department and its hospitals units to which Rane listed out the vacant posts at the IPHB.
Additionally the IPHB lacks 17 attendants and 25 psychiatric patient caretakers besides one MTS, Rane added.
The services of staff nurses, attendants and caretakers are crucial in the care of patients with psychiatric and other mental health issues as they commonly get physically boisterous and difficult to manage.
