KATHMANDU, APRIL 12
The Nepal Medical Association (NMA) has raised serious objections to a Ministry of Health and Population directive requiring hospitals to maintain OPD services on Sundays.
The Council of Ministers recently decided to grant Saturday and Sunday as public holidays for government employees. However, the Ministry of Health subsequently directed hospitals to keep OPD services running on Sundays despite the manpower not being officially deployed - a move the NMA has strongly opposed.
The association stated that doctors and health workers already provide round-the-clock services including on-call, round, and emergency duties beyond the standard nine-to-five shift, making it unjust to count such time against their leave. The NMA warned that implementing the ministry's directive without proper scientific workforce management could seriously compromise service quality.
The NMA also highlighted longstanding issues around compensatory leave, noting that health workers have historically been denied substitute leave due to various legal constraints, and expressed concern that inconsistent leave policies across health institutions were creating unnecessary hardship for staff - with potential downstream effects on healthcare delivery.
The association demanded that the Ministry of Health and Population rescind the directive, noting that extending OPD hours due to a fuel shortage-era precedent was unreasonable. It warned that if services are forcibly expanded without adequate support, doctors and health workers may be compelled to take collective action, and urged the ministry to take full responsibility for any disruption to health services.
