The Cabinet has given sanction for 1,000 new posts in the Health Department so that the second phase of Mission Aardram can be implemented.
In a statement here on Wednesday, Health Minister K.K. Shylaja said the new posts had been sanctioned so as to enable the department to convert the second batch of primary health centres (PHCs) as family health centres (FHCs).
In the first phase, 170 PHCs had been converted to FHCs and the staff strength had been increased so that each institution would have two doctors (Assistant Surgeons), two staff nurses and a lab technician. For the first phase, 830 new posts had been created.
In the second phase, 504 PHCs were being converted into FHCs, for which 400 posts each of Assistant Surgeons and staff nurses, and 200 posts of lab technicians were being created, Ms. Shylaja said.
The department hoped to get these posts filled soon so that the second batch of FHCs could be made functional, she said.
Till date, the present LDF government has created 5,250 posts for the health sector, which is a first for the sector, where the staff pattern has been the same for several decades.
Re-positioning PHCs as FHCs for offering comprehensive preventive and primary care services had been one of the key strategies under Mission Aardram.
FHCs are patient-friendly health institutions offering all basic amenities to patients, including comfortable waiting areas with chairs, drinking water and washroom facilities, immunisation and breastfeeding areas and a digital queue management system so that overcrowding is avoided.
FHCs function from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m. and offer a host of basic speciality clinics, including lifestyle diseases, mental health and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, counselling facilities and yoga/wellness clinics with assigned space for physical activity training.
