PMJAY implementation below par at civil hospital

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 22

The motive behind the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) is to ensure equitable access to quality medical services, and thus contribute significantly to the welfare and well-being of millions of families across the country, but its purpose seems to have turned futile when it comes to Ludhiana district.

Civil Surgeon Jasbir Singh Aulakh recently visited the Ludhiana Civil Hospital and found various shortcomings in the implementation of the scheme.

Lax approach

• Civil Surgeon’s recent visit to the Ludhiana Civil Hospital revealed various shortcomings in the implementation of PMJAY scheme
• CS instructed staff that files under the Ayushman scheme have to be made by an Aarogyamithra
• It was also found that the required iris scanner was not available at the hospital
• Stamp used for the PMJAY scheme cards was also found not to be of the required quality
• There was lack of cleanliness in wards and ramps were not being cleaned
• Risk of misuse of hospital stamp was also flagged

It was found the files of Ayushman Bharat Scheme were being made along the normal files. At this, the Civil Surgeon instructed the staff that the files under the Ayushman scheme have to be made by an Aarogyamithra.

“Aarogyamithra is the first point of contact for the patients visiting the hospitals and help them through their treatment journey starting from patient registration to treatment and discharge to follow-up,” said Dr Aulakh.

Further, it was found the required iris scanner was not available at the hospital and the stamp used for the cards was also not of the required quality.

Dr Aulakh added the district co-ordinator was unable to answer the queries satisfactorily and did not show much interest in his work.

Talking about the cleanliness in the hospital, Dr Aulakh said there was lack of cleanliness in the wards, and ramps were not cleaned, thus, instructions were issued to the concerned staff to maintain cleanliness. The SMO of the civil hospital did not take round of the hospital till 10.30 am on the day of the CS’s visit.

“Another serious matter that came forward during my visit was that all the doctors were using one stamp (in which it is written LMCH) and that was kept in the mortuary. Now, one cannot deny the fact that it could be misused. I have asked the doctors to make their own separate stamps,” said the Civil Surgeon.

Pritam Singh, who was admitted to the Orthopaedic Ward, was called to the operation theatre for pre-anaesthesia check (PAC). Now, instructions have been issued to conduct the PAC on the admission bed.

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