The Mental Hospital Lagankhel, the only such hospital in the country, is facing a crunch of consultant psychiatrists.
Although the number of mental patients coming to the hospital is on the rise, the hospital is constrained by shortage of psychiatric specialists.
The hospital has only eight positions of consultant psychiatrist, which is very inadequate given the rising number of patients. The hospital is managing with only five consultant psychiatrists at present, Hospital spokesman (Chief Consultant Psychiatrist) Ananta Adhikari said.
There is one post of Director (psychiatric specialist) who has been allotted the responsibility of the hospital management, two posts of chief consultant psychiatrists and six posts of senior consultant psychiatrist.
Hospital spokesman Adhikari said that the number of posts for psychiatric specialists has not been increased in proportion to the rising number of patients in the hospital, both in the out-patient and the in-patient departments.
"One specialist has to examine up to 50 patients in the out-patient department," he said. He said 11 resident doctors are working at the hospital who have to be guided by the specialists. The 30 beds available at the hospital are almost always occupied.
The hospital's out-patient department sees 150 to 200 patients on an average coming for check up daily.
