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Compared to other professionals, fidelity to one's own training seems to be rather poor among the health professionals. A civil engineer does not do electrical installations. A hardware professional does not do software designing. But cross-practice in health care is rampant in India in the private sector. More shocking and less known is the cross speciality practice in the public sector hospitals and medical colleges.

The cross-practice in the private sector was so common that medical practice was in a state of anarchy until the Supreme Court declared in 1996 that the practice of health care should be limited to the area of training, that any violation amounted to quackery and that it was per se illegal. The way our professional regulatory bodies and councils ignored the problem until the Law intervened says a lot about their effectiveness as watchdogs of our society (see Chapter18).

The insensitive administration of the government health services create the problem of enforced cross-practice among those in the public sector. A qualified surgeon may be posted in the bacteriology section because there is a vacancy in that department! Many qualified specialists are similarly wasted. Perhaps a court order will be required to set right this malady also.

Someone should file public interest litigation and bring about some logic and order in the postings of health professionals in the government hospitals. Any takers?

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