Doctors reject Sunday OPD directive

KATHMANDU: The Nepal Medical Association has said hospitals will not be able to run outpatient (OPD) services on Sundays as directed by the Ministry of Health and Population, citing a lack of adequate human resources and existing workload pressures on medical staff.

In a statement issued on Friday, the association’s General Secretary Dr Sanjiv Tiwari said that although the government has decided to introduce a two-day weekly public holiday on Saturdays and Sundays, hospitals had been asked to continue OPD services on Sundays based on available manpower. However, he said this was not feasible without additional staffing.

The association argued that doctors and health workers already provide round-the-clock services, including emergency care, on-call duties and ward rounds, while working standard 9–5 shifts, and that this extended responsibility is not properly accounted for. It also said that unless scientific workforce management is introduced in health institutions, it would not be possible to implement the ministry’s request to operate OPD services on Sundays.

The doctors’ body further raised concerns over compensatory leave arrangements, claiming that staff have previously been denied proper substitute holidays despite working on official rest days. Calling the directive impractical, the association said running OPD services on Sundays would increase operational strain and fuel consumption at a time when the government itself had introduced two-day weekly holidays partly to manage energy use.

Warning of possible protests if concerns are not addressed, the association urged the ministry to withdraw its request, saying forced service conditions without adequate facilities and benefits were unsustainable. Earlier, the Ministry of Health and Population had instructed hospitals across the country to ensure OPD services on Sundays, following reports that outpatient services had been suspended after the introduction of the new two-day weekly holiday system.