Delhi govt hospitals get Rs 1 crore boost to cope with contingencies

NEW DELHI: To tackle crises due to vector-borne diseases and to avoid any tragedies, such as the one in Gorakhpur's Baba Raghav Das Hospital, the Delhi government on Wednesday decided to provide medical superintendants of its hospitals financial power for emergency purchases upto Rs 1 crore.

Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain briefed media after a comprehensive review meeting, which was chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Medical Superintendants of all Delhi government hospitals, Chief Secretary, Finance Secretary, Health Secretary and officials of Delhi Government Employees Health Scheme also attended the meeting.

Small hospitals can currently purchase equipments worth Rs 10 lakh, while large hospitals can purchase equipments worth Rs 50 lakh. This amount, Jain said, has been raised to Rs 1 crore for both categories of hospitals.

Further, the government also decided that special powers will be given to medical superintendants to deal with purchase of medicines, in case tenders fail due to lack of bidders.

Jain said vendors who supply commodities to hospitals are currently paid within 30-60 days.

This period will be reduced to a maximum of 45 days, the Minister said.

"Gorakhpur will not be repeated in Delhi. We have been conducting regular inspections," Jain added.

The Minister added that the availability of medicines is currently at 90-95 per cent. He also assured that things were under control and emergency wards of all hospitals were working fine.

Talking about a helpline number that would soon be started for hospital-related complaints, Jain said: "The helpline number would be run through call centres and it would be monitored every day by the Chief Minister."

"On this helpline, patients or their attendants can complain about non-availability of medicines in concerned Delhi government hospitals," said a Delhi government spokesperson.

As per official data, the number of recorded cases of H1N1 (Swine Flu) across India this year so far are 16,565.

There have been 889 cases of H1N1 in Delhi this year so far. 199 cases have been referred from outside Delhi, taking the total cases of swine flu reported this year, till August 9, to 1,088.

Four deaths have been reported due to swine flu in Delhi. Of these, two were residents of Delhi. 818 deaths have been reported all over the country this year.

"The Health department has been undertaking intensive programmes to create awareness regarding prevention and treatment of all vector-borne diseases and swine flu. There is sufficient stock of medicines for the treatment of dengue, chikungunya and malaria in all medical institutions of Delhi government," the spokesperson said.

"Helpline numbers will be prominently displayed and nodal officers will be appointed in all Delhi government hospitals to address complaints of non-availability of medicines," he added.

According to the spokesperson, current availability of medicines in government hospitals stands at 90 percent, with the Chief Minister calling for further improvement.

The Chief Minister has also directed officials to remove all hurdles in making non-functional machines fully functional, the spokesperson added.