Staff Shortage Stalls Female Admissions at St George's Hospital Psychiatry Ward

A severe staff shortage at the state-run St George’s Hospital, located near CST in Mumbai, has left a newly inaugurated female psychiatry ward locked and forced psychiatric patients to share outpatient facilities with tuberculosis patients. As of June 14, 2026, nine months after the dedicated psychiatry unit was inaugurated, female patients remain unable to get admitted to the facility because the hospital has failed to appoint a female night attendant.

The hospital established its psychiatry unit under Dr. Sarika Dakshikar last year. While a 20-bed male psychiatry ward, primarily treating patients with addiction problems, has been functional since September 2025, the adjoining 10-bed female enclosure remains locked.

In April, Dr. Yusuf Matcheswalla, the hospital’s honorary professor of psychiatry, wrote a letter to senior government officials and ministers to highlight the critical gaps. Dr. Matcheswalla stated that without minimal female attendants, the hospital cannot ensure safe and culturally appropriate inpatient care for women, who make up a significant portion of their psychiatric caseload.

Dr. Matcheswalla also raised serious concerns regarding the outpatient department (OPD), which the psychiatry unit currently shares with the Chest/TB department. He warned that many psychiatric patients are already highly vulnerable due to severe mental illness, co-morbid medical conditions, and compromised immunity, making a shared space with tuberculosis patients clinically and ethically unacceptable.

Additionally, an electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) machine donated by Dr. Matcheswalla remains idle because the hospital has not appointed an anaesthetist required to perform the procedure. Dr. Matcheswalla noted that other state-run facilities in the city, such as GT Hospital and JJ Hospital, also face limitations in providing ECT, which reduces therapeutic options for thousands of patients.

St George’s Hospital medical superintendent, Dr. Vinay Sawardekar, stated that the administration is actively addressing these issues. He announced that Class IV staff recruitment has been carried out, and female ayahs are expected to join for night duty within a month. Dr. Sawardekar also mentioned that ongoing renovations will create a new OPD space near the MRI machine, which will be used to relocate the Chest/TB OPD and resolve the shared space issue.