The UPA government’s tom-tomming of its social welfare schemes may fall flat as the ground situation is quite sickly. When it comes to ensuring the well-being of the common man, it fares poorly particularly in government-owned hospitals, including those in the capital.
It is not just the condition of the over-crowded Safdarjung and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospitals, the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) wellness centres in the city also paint a rather gloomy picture. Poor infrastructure, unhygienic environment, improper sanitation and lack of basic amenities like clean drinking water and electricity plague these centres.
The parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare, which examined the functioning of the CGHS, expressed its anguish over the dilapidated condition of many buildings housing the wellness centres. Some of the centres are functioning out of make-shift DDA flats that are not meant or suited for such operations.
The committee, headed by BSP leader Brajesh Pathak, also noted that many CGHS centres were cramped with inadequate seating space and lacked drinking water facilities. “One of the parameters of judging the success of any healthcare delivery system is the hygiene it maintains and availability of basic amenities like water, electricity,” the report said.
On a local study tour to various centres, the committee also noted the poor maintenance of the buildings by CPWD staff, especially at the Noida and Dwarka wellness centres. The Ghaziabad wellness centre, which is located in a three-storey building, does not have an elevator. No funds have been earmarked either to CPWD for carrying out maintenance work at the centres, the report stated.
Various stakeholders in their written submissions to the committee have complained about the crowded centres with unsatisfactory sanitary and hygienic conditions. The ministry of health and family welfare washed its hands of the responsibility by saying that according to the norms of department of expenditure, sanitation and security services are to be outsourced. The zones concerned have already taken steps to outsource these, it said.
The report also stated that the poor hygiene and improper sanitation would erode the credibility of healthcare services. The committee has recommended that the ministry of health and family welfare understand the exigency of proper infrastructure and cleaning staff in CGHS wellness centres across the country as a pre-requisite to providing health facilities.
Since the health ministry has outsourced the cleaning work to a private agency, the committee stressed the need for frequent monitoring of work done by the private agencies. It also observed that basic medical instruments like ECG machines and Glucometers were not available at the centres and must be provided as well.
The committee was apprised of the appalling treatment meted out to elderly beneficiaries, for whom meeting the doctors and accessing medicines at the centres is an uphill task. Many elderly beneficiaries informed the committee that in absence of a proper mechanism and shortage of staff and doctors they often have to wait for long hours to see the doctors. The queue at the pharmacy counters are even longer, they say. The situation gets worse if the prescribed medicines are not in stock and they have to brave crowds again to collect the medicines. In case they purchase the medicines from authorized chemist outside the centre, getting bills reimbursed is another ordeal.
The committee suggested the health ministry should ensure that the instructions issued by it for paying special attention to senior citizens are implemented in letter and spirit. Other than strict compliance of instructions, a system should be devised for fixing responsibility for non-compliance.
The committee also emphasized the need for the health ministry to strengthen the CGHS facilities available in government hospitals and private hospitals empanelled under CGHS to ensure hassle-free treatment for beneficiaries.
According to the Union health ministry, CGHS had 8, 49,816 card holders with a beneficiary base of 32, 08,655.
The Sunday Standard