Medical equipment worth crores of rupees lying in disrepair in government hospitals, lack of technical personnel to maintain them and absence of diagnostic services in government hospitals are a bane which force the poor patients to spend from their pocket and make them run from pillar to post.
But interestingly though budget is provided under the National Rural Health Mission for the maintenance of medical equipment, offering diagnostic services, several States, including Andhra Pradesh, failed to utilise the funds for improving the quality of service in government hospitals.
After observing best practices followed in various States under the NRHM including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh Medical, Health and Family Welfare Department has tied up with private agencies in PPP mode under open tender system approved by GoI to turn around the medical and diagnostic services in government hospitals at all levels and provide them free of cost to patients.
Onus on agency
“The onus will be on the agency as the maintenance of the medical equipment will be outsourced. We entered into an MoU to keep the equipment always functional within 60 days,” sources said.
Of Rs.500 crore worth medical equipment in government hospitals, machines worth Rs.150 crore to Rs.200 crore always lay unused due to repairs forcing poor to pay a fortune on these tests in private centres.
The Department will also start a call centre with a toll free number to complain about faulty equipment for the agency to set it right in 48 hours.
The call centre and MIS system will generate reports on dashboard to the department about the daily usage rate of equipment, repair rate, maintenance aspects.
The agency will also pursue annual maintenance contracts with companies that supplied the equipment,
“The system is not something new. We are adopting which is working fine in some States,” says Principal Secretary, Medical and Health, Poonam Malakondaiah.
Government will be paying for all the state- of- the- art diagnostic services, maintenance of equipment to private agencies Rs.120 crore to Rs.130 crore a year.
It will come to about two per cent of its Medical and Health Budget of Rs.5,000 crore but transform government hospitals- teaching hospitals to PHCs- into reliable and credible health care institutions, she says.
The State Cabinet recently approved above measures which will be rolled out in three months beginning from December, she said.
They include outsourcing some diagnostic services not available at government hospitals.
The agency will send its personnel to government hospitals to collect the samples of patients for blood profile, lipid profile and other 40 tests and charge Rs.235 per package.
The agency will upload or deliver the report.
“The idea is to reduce out of pocket expenditure for patients, offer quality service in government hospitals and bring down market rates for these tests. This will enable government to offer truly free diagnostic service to patients,” Ms. Malakondaiah said.
Similar services, free tele radiology service to use services of team of radiologists sitting in a centralised radiology centre place to analyse the digitised x day reports and send them back by evening with digital signature as radiologists could not be appointed in remote hospitals. Similarly CT scan facility will be made available in PPP mode in four district hospitals without such amenity where only Rs.1,000 will be charged per scan by the private investor.
Soon the department will float tenders for ultra sound scan in PPP to do ultra sound scans for pregnant women visiting government health centres and will start 102 call centre, 102 ‘’Talli Bidda Express’ cab from December to offer free transport back home to the mother, child and the attendant after delivery at government institution.
The call centre will keep track of ante and post natal services and immunisation schedule through SMS alert. It will help bring down maternal and infant mortality rates, she says.
