Absenteeism on the part of doctors will not be tolerated, says Health Minister

Minister for Health Satya Kumar Yadav on Friday (January 09, 2026) said that 60–70 per cent of patients had expressed satisfaction with the services provided at Government General Hospitals in the State, according to public feedback collected in December 2025. He urged the officials concerned to focus on eliminating the remaining 30–40 per cent negativity.

Speaking at a marathon State-level review meeting with Superintendents of Government teaching hospitals and Principals and administrators of medical colleges, the Minister warned that absenteeism on the part of doctors would not be tolerated and that year-long unauthorised absence may lead to removal from service. He said doctors refusing to take up postings and delaying responsibilities will be surrendered to the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) and disciplinary action will follow. “Notices will be issued on why such persons should not be removed from service,” he warned.

The Minister said that increase in numbers of out-patients and in-patients reflected public trust, but further improvement was still needed and urged doctors and staff to serve patients with compassion and help the government achieve the goal of a healthy Andhra Pradesh.

He said attendance of doctors and staff had improved by over eight per cent in the last 19 months, but “service quality cannot be judged only by attendance. Patient experiences and opinions are crucial,” he stressed.

The Minister said that government medical colleges must provide high-standard medical education to produce excellent doctors. They should participate in NIRF ranking, evaluate teaching staff regularly, and invite experts from prestigious institutes across the country to train students, he added.

Health Secretary Saurabh Gaur said that systems were being set up to monitor hospitals and doctors in real time using technology. Under Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s “continuous care” principle, integrated services across primary, secondary, and tertiary hospitals would be ensured without barriers, he added.

Sharing information on the performance of the GGHs in December, Mr. Gaur said that hospitals had recorded 44 per cent growth in terms of Out-Patients visits, 40 per cent increase in surgeries and diagnostic tests had increased by 150 per cent. In OP services, Visakhapatnam, Anantapur, and Vijayawada stood in the top three positions, exceeding targets by over 100 per cent, while Nellore, Machilipatnam, and Eluru were at the bottom. In surgeries, Vijayawada, Machilipatnam, and Ongole ranked top three, while Guntur, Kadapa, and Paderu were at the bottom, he said.

NTR Health University Vice-Chancellor Chandrasekhar said efforts were being made to increase focus on research in medical colleges.

Director of Medical Education Raghunandan and others attended the meeting which discussed hospital sanitation and strict monitoring of cleaning agencies, security staff auditing, maintaining standards in patient food, prevention of corruption, scientific budgeting for free drug procurement, unusually high post-Covid oxygen usage in some hospitals, and ways to reduce expenditure on biomedical equipment through proper procurement and maintenance.