NEW DELHI: One of the country’s largest government hospitals is suffering from a severe shortage of teaching staff, potentially putting a strain on patient care and medical training. An RTI reply by Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital administration dated December 27, 2025 reveals that 70 of the 398 approved teaching posts are vacant. While departmental data shows that there are currently 365 faculty members in post – 346 are regular faculty members and 19 are contract faculty members – there are 37 surplus positions in some departments, leaving the 70 positions unfilled elsewhere due to the uneven distribution of faculty members.
This has resulted in persistent staffing gaps in several critical departments as well as internal imbalances rather than uniform staffing distribution. Among the core clinical disciplines facing acute shortages, nine out of 11 approved positions are vacant in clinical hematology, while eight faculty members are missing in neurology. In cardiology, a busy tertiary service, seven out of 12 posts are vacant, and in neurosurgery, five posts are vacant. There are six positions to be filled in anesthesia, which is central to surgical services. There are also gaps in departments dealing with cancer treatment and advanced diagnostics. There are two approved positions in medical oncology but none are currently filled, while three and four positions are vacant in nuclear medicine and urology respectively. Similar shortages exist in pathology, physiology, pulmonary medicine, endocrinology and forensic medicine, the RTI response said. Reacting to the RTI findings, Sakshi Chhugh, Public Relations Officer, VMMC & Safdarjung Hospital said that the hospital has an approved strength of 398 teaching posts, of which 345 are currently occupied by regular teachers and 18 by contractual teachers. She said interviews had already been conducted for the remaining 35 posts and appointments would be finalized in due course as per the prescribed recruitment procedures. “The hospital continues to ensure that academic activities, teaching programs and patient care services remain uninterrupted,” Chhugh said. Health experts warn that a persistent shortage of skilled workers in teaching hospitals may lead to longer waiting times, higher workloads for clinicians and lower teaching and supervision of medical students, which has a direct impact on service delivery in high-volume centers like Safdarjung.
