VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed officials to take stringent action against hospitals that try to water down the YSR Aarogyasri Scheme. He also told them to closely monitor the implementation of the scheme, under which free medical aid is given to the needy.
While taking stock of the Covid-19 situation and the implementation of the YSR Aarogyasri scheme, the Chief Minister on Friday instructed officials to fix lapses in implementation of the scheme.
Every hospital under the scheme must have a help desk, he emphasised, and asked the officials to ensure the referral system for Aarogyasri works effectively. He directed them to frequently collect feedback on the basic infrastructure at hospitals and quality of medical services provided.
Officials were asked to ensure Arogya Mitras are aware of protocols and responsibilities to check whether people treated under Aarogyasri get Arogya Aasara. “Arogya Mitras must submit these details to higher officials,” he stated.
The Chief Minister also asked the officials to review all hospitals under the Aarogyasri scheme in the way that Covid-19 hospitals are being reviewed.
“Arogya Mitras are responsible to ensure that if patients do not get proper treatment at one hospital, they are shifted to another,” he said, and asked the officials to focus on these issues and submit a report on their implementation by the next review meeting.
Enquiring about the functioning of call centres Jagan told officials to conduct mock calls from time to time and record the responses. “Feedback on food, sanitation, doctors and basic facilities at hospitals should be collected from patients, and hospitals should be rated based on it. If lapses are found, corrective measures should be taken immediately. Similar feedback should be collected for Arogya Aasara. Officials must make mock calls to the call centres every day,” he said.
Jagan also sought to know how much awareness was raised on what one should do if they have Covid-19 symptoms. He told the officials to initiate steps to construct new teaching hospitals, and said the proposed medical colleges would strengthen the public health system. Enquiring about the status of permanent buildings for urban health centres, he instructed the officials to complete the tenders process by October.
Officials informed the Chief Minister that as on Friday, of the 37,441 beds in Covid-19 hospitals, 2,462 ordinary beds, 11,177 oxygen-supported beds and 2,651 ICU beds are vacant. They said that out of 30,887 posts, 21,673 are being filled on a temporary basis and 9,971 are being filled through the regular recruitment process. Out of 9,971 posts, 4,676 have been filled and the rest will be filled within 10 days.
The officials said that every day Rs 10.18 crore is being spent for Covid-19 treatment, which includes Rs 4.3 crore for Covid-19 tests, Rs 1.31 crore for food and Rs 4.57 crore for medicines.Deputy CM (Health) Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas, Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, Special Chief Secretary (Health) KS Jawahar Reddy were present at the meeting.
