A spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office said the empanelment will be done at the district level through civil surgeons.
Punjab Cabinet Clears Empanelment of 300 Doctors: Major Boost to State Healthcare Services
On Friday, the Punjab cabinet approved the empanelment of 300 specialist doctors across 12 key medical disciplines. This move is focused on overcoming the long-standing shortage of specialists in government hospitals and improving secondary healthcare services throughout the state.
The approved specialities include departments such as Medicine, Paediatrics, Psychiatry, Dermatology, Chest & TB, Surgery, Gynaecology, Orthopaedics, Ophthalmology, ENT and Anaesthesiology. A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said the empanelment will be done at the district level through civil surgeons.
Under the new arrangement, empanelled doctors will be paid on a per-patient basis for services including OPD consultations, inpatient treatment (IPD), and emergency calls, as well as minor and major surgeries and procedures. For both OPD and IPD, a minimum fee of INR 100 per patient has been fixed, as stated in the same report. There are also caps on how many patients a doctor can treat: 50–150 patients in OPD and 2–20 patients in IPD.
Addressing chronic staff shortages in public health facilities, the step is expected to substantially raise the availability of specialist care, particularly critical in districts where government hospitals have long struggled to find qualified specialists.
Additionally, the cabinet also asked officials to prepare an incentive-based policy for doctors and teachers working in the state’s border districts, in recognition of the reluctance many have shown to take postings there. According to Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, “private specialist doctors will be empanelled to get rid of the shortage in the state. They will be given due incentives for their services.”
If it is implemented effectively, this decision could mean easier access to quality specialist treatment for thousands of patients who rely on public hospitals, especially in remote or underserved districts. But its success will depend on how quickly the empanelment is completed, whether sufficient specialists sign up, and how equitably the services are distributed across the state.
Overall, the empanelment of 300 specialist doctors represents a pragmatic, citizen-orientated step by the Punjab government, potentially a game changer for public healthcare delivery in the state.
