The exodus of doctors from the Kalyan Singh Super Speciality Cancer Institute (KSSSCI) continues, raising fresh concerns over the availability of specialist healthcare services. Assistant professor in the department of psychiatry, Dr Abhinav Tiwari, submitted his resignation on Monday with a one-month notice period.
However, no official statement has yet been issued by the institute on the resignation or the reasons behind it.
According to sources, Dr Tiwari had joined the institute in September last year. They claimed that the primary reason behind his resignation is the significant salary gap between KSSSCI and other government as well as premier medical institutions, making it difficult for the institute to retain specialist faculty.
With Dr Tiwari’s departure, the institute’s psychiatry department is expected to become non-functional, leaving cancer patients in need of psychiatric counselling and mental health support without an in-house specialist.
The latest resignation adds to a series of exits that have plagued the institute over the past few months. In June this year, a neurosurgeon resigned, affecting services for patients suffering from brain tumours and other neurological cancers. Before that, a doctor from the nuclear medicine department had also quit. Reports have consistently linked these departures to pay disparities and better opportunities elsewhere.
According to recent reports, around 28 specialist doctors have left the institute over the past two years, while dozens of nursing and non-teaching staff have also resigned. The institute reportedly has only 42 specialist doctors against a sanctioned strength of 121, leading to delays in consultations and treatment for hundreds of patients visiting the cancer centre every day.
