Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday directed Jipmer to ensure adequate stock of medicines to be provided free of cost to all out patients and in-patients who are below the poverty line. Addressing the media after reviewing the drug availability position at Jipmer following complaints of patients having to purchase medicines from private pharmacies, Ms. Soundararajan said the administration has been asked to make sure that sufficient stocks are maintained and that patients, under any circumstances, are not put in a situation where they are given a prescription to shop for these medicines from outside. While the explanation by the administration was that prescription had been issued due to the non-availability of certain drugs due to tender process delays after COVID-19, the Lt. Governor said notwithstanding such procedural issues, the institution had been instructed to undertake measures to avoid drug shortage that caused inconvenience to the patients. The Lt. Governor, who verified with the Director, the complaint raised by mediapersons that even paracetamol stocks had run dry at Jipmer, said it was wrong on the part of the institution to have let such a situation develop even though it was said to have made provisions for emergency procurement of the most commonly used drug.
For patients above poverty line, the pharmacy inside the campus selling medicines at 25% discounted price, is facing overcrowding due to lack of enough counters. “We have asked Jipmer to open more counters”.
According to Ms. Soundararajan, Jipmer has also started accepting patients availing the Prime Minister Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) benefit. This was among the issues discussed during the recent visit by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, and now the PM-JAY benefit that provides health insurance coverage of up to ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation, is available for patients from Puducherry, the Lt. Governor said. During August alone, 150 patients had been treated under the scheme. Jipmer has been asked to do away with the ₹10 levied as charge for using the night shelter for bystanders and to set up an information desk equipped with Tamil-speaking staff to offer guidance to visitors, she said. Jipmer had also acquired ₹40 crore worth state-of-the-art equipment with Central aid that included CT scan, diagnostic machines for cancer and angiography equipment. The benefits of these measures should reach the patients free of charge. Jipmer’s off-site campus in Karaikal which was established on government land would have a new building complex at an estimated cost of ₹30 crore, the Lt. Governor said. While acknowledging the phenomenal contributions of Jipmer in delivering health care to patients from near and far, Ms. Soundararajan said last year alone, 2.47 lakh availed OP treatment, including 1.70 lakh from Tamil Nadu. “But, at the same time the institution was duty-bound to address complaints about shortcomings from the public”, Ms. Soundararajan said. “People are the topmost priority in healthcare, and officials and medical professionals come later. Patients should be able to get what they require and should not be made to suffer”, said the Lt. Governor, who said this was the only reason she skipped another engagement to convene the Jipmer review. Speaker R. Selvam and AK Sai Saravanan Kumar, Civil Supplies Minister were present.
