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Bengal

CM tells health dept to improve ‘quality and range of services’

Banerjee held a review meeting at Nabanna on the projects undertaken by the Health department on Wednesday. State Health Minister Dr Sashi Panja and West Bengal Medical Service Corporation Limited (WBMSCL) chairperson Chandrima Bhattacharya were among the officials present.

Chief Secretary and Home Secretary were also present in the meeting, along with medical superintendents and vice-principals of medical colleges and superintendents of district hospitals.

The Chief Minister directed the top officials to take necessary steps for further improvement of healthcare services and she had pointed out the steps that need to be taken to provide better service to the common people. It is learnt that she told the officials “to ensure better and closer monitoring and supervision at all levels,” besides conducting surprise visits.

Regular review meetings in hospitals, as well as in the health department, is needed to improve the service further, and amenities like sufficient supply of drinking water and earmarked waiting area for relatives of patients have to be ensured.

Effective patient grievance redressal mechanism in medical college hospitals and district hospitals is also needed and it should be in place within a month.

Most importantly, stress needs to be given on the cleanliness of hospitals and their surrounding areas. At the same time, there is also a need for a ‘facelift of the hospital buildings’. In a bid to give a better look to the hospitals, plantation of trees and gardening in the vacant spaces in hospitals need to be undertaken in collaboration with the Municipal Affairs Department or the local civic bodies. 

Proper sign boards need to be placed in the hospitals and it they have to be in vernacular languages including Nepali, sources said. Common people have also been requested to take precautions against vector-borne and water-borne diseases as monsoon has already set in. The Chief Minister also urged the people to cooperate with hospital authorities to keep the area clean. 

Other issues which were discussed in Wednesday’s meeting include the rapid improvement in the rate of institutional delivery, coverage of fully immunised children and maternal mortality rate.

It may be mentioned that the institutional delivery in the state has gone up from 67 per cent in 2010-11 to 87.4 per cent in 2015-16. The coverage of fully immunised children stands at 91 per cent as of 2015-16. Both the maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate have reduced drastically.
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