Staff Crunch Stalls Female Psychiatry Ward Admission at St George’s Hospital near CST

A severe staff shortage at the state-run St George’s Hospital near CST in Mumbai has locked female patients out of the dedicated psychiatry ward and forced psychiatric patients to share outpatient facilities with tuberculosis patients.

Nine months after the dedicated psychiatry ward was inaugurated, female patients remain unable to get admitted because the hospital has not appointed a female night attendant. While a 20-bedded male psychiatry ward has been functional since September 2025, the 10-bed female enclosure remains locked.

The hospital's psychiatry unit, established under Dr. Sarika Dakshikar last year, also faces space constraints. The department’s outpatient clinic is currently shared with the Chest and Tuberculosis department.

In a letter written to senior government officials and ministers in April, Dr. Yusuf Matcheswalla, the hospital’s honorary professor of psychiatry, flagged both issues. Dr. Matcheswalla stated that safe and culturally appropriate inpatient care for women cannot be ensured without female attendants. He also noted that sharing an outpatient department with tuberculosis patients is clinically and ethically unacceptable, as many psychiatric patients have compromised immunity and co-morbid medical conditions.

Additionally, an electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) machine donated by Dr. Matcheswalla remains unused because the hospital lacks the required anaesthetist. Dr. Matcheswalla pointed out that other state-run facilities, such as GT Hospital and JJ Hospital, also face limitations in providing ECT treatments due to lack of equipment or ongoing repairs.

St George’s Hospital medical superintendent Dr. Vinay Sawardekar stated that the hospital is addressing these shortages. According to Dr. Sawardekar, the recruitment of Class IV staff has been completed, and female ayahs are expected to join for night duty within a month.

Dr. Sawardekar also stated that ongoing renovation work has created a new outpatient space near the MRI machine, which will be utilized to relocate the Chest and Tuberculosis outpatient department.