UP: Government doctors referring patients to private hospitals will face the music

The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to launch a campaign to identify unscrupulous government doctors referring patients to private hospitals or asking them to buy medicines from open market, health minister Sidharth Nath Singh said.

The government also planned to hold the chief medical superintendents (CMS) accountable for the lapses, he added.

Talking to HT after a review meeting of his department on Wednesday, Singh said: “Senior health department officials of the rank of joint director or above will undertake surprise inspections in all the government hospitals. They will specifically check if doctors are recommending/writing medicines from outside. Strict action will be against those found involved in such practices,”

JAN AUSHADHI KENDRAS

The minister also ordered proper display of medicines at the hundred odd Jan Aushadhi centres that are already functioning across the state.

“I want proper availability of medicines in these centres which have been opened as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to ensure cheap medicines are made available to the common man,” he said.

TELE-RADIOLOGY

Singh said the government was aware of the shortage of radiologists in the state and added that the shortfall would be covered by introducing tele-radiology.

“By November, we plan to open 400 tele-radiology centres across the state and we hope it would help us overcome the shortage of radiologists,” he said.

He added the state had been divided into three clusters to ensure that tele-radiology centres were evenly distributed as per demand.

MOBILE MEDICAL UNITS

The minister said about a hundred mobile medical units would become functional by December. “These mobile units are aimed at providing access to health facilities to poor people living in far-flung areas of the state. Each mobile unit will have a driver, doctor, pharmacist, nurse and a lab technician,” he said.

Singh said these units would provide first aid, screening of infectious and non-infectious diseases and basic pathological tests to the poor. “These mobile medical units will run on PPP mode,” he said.

Singh said the government also planned to ensure availability of at least one hearse vehicle in each of the 75 districts of the state. “So far, we have provided 40 hearse vehicles and the remaining will be made available soon,” he said.

First Published: Aug 30, 2018 18:20 IST