Govt. chalks out reforms for medical college hospitals

The government has drafted a series of reforms it wants implemented in all Government Medical Colleges so that the hospitals become patient-friendly and the healthcare service delivery is streamlined.

The government has also insisted that these reforms are to be implemented in all outpatient, inpatient departments and the Emergency Rooms in Government Medical Colleges and allied institutions within the next 100 days so that apart from improved patient care, delays in care can be avoided and there would be better accountability.

All Outpatient Departments (OPDs) should have a transparent first-come, first-served token system with separate counters for new and repeat patients. Patients with chronic illnesses are to be encouraged to maintain personal medical record books to improve continuity of care. Senior citizens and persons with disabilities must receive assistance as well as have separate priority queues at registration, consultation, laboratory, imaging and pharmacy counters through designated staff, volunteers or NGOs.

All Medical colleges should mandatorily provide adequate seating, safe drinking water, clean toilets, waste bins, proper ventilation and hygienic waiting areas for patients and visitors. Dedicated spaces must be created for laboratory sample collection, investigation appointments and imaging services.

Medicines prescribed for chronic diseases should be dispensed for a minimum of 30 days, with refill prescriptions for up to six months wherever appropriate, reducing the need for repeated consultations.

The circular specifically asks all staff members in various departments in hospitals to treat patients and visitors with courtesy, dignity and respect and states that any verified complaint regarding inappropriate behaviour or neglect from the staff will invite strict action from the government

A dedicated “May I Help You” Desk shall be established in every hospital block, staffed by a courteous and well-informed person capable of providing guidance and assistance to patients and visitors

The circular stipulates that no patient should be accommodated on the floor and that department heads should ensure that there are adequate ward staff to coordinate imaging appointments and patient transport. All labs must collect blood samples from wards and deliver the test reports to the wards at appropriate times.Treating doctors are required to keep patients and attendants informed about diagnoses, treatment plans and any deterioration in condition

Much emphasis is laid on maintaining cleanliness and hygiene in wards. Toilets are to be cleaned every hour and the cleaning schedule will be documented and inspected by Nursing Officers. An intensive cleaning exercise should be taken up weekly once when all furniture, fixtures etc will be cleaned and disinfected

All unnecessary, or unauthorised boards, posters, notices will be removed from the walls and premises and well-designed information board and signages should be put up in its place

Emergency Departments should have a Super-specialty person on-call for emergency consultations.They should triage every new patient within five minutes, admit super-specialty patients without unnecessary delay and prioritise emergency investigations.

The government has invited continuous feedback from patients, attendants and staff to further improve emergency services.