Refer patients to higher hospitals only in emergency: Narasimha

Hyderabad: Telangana Health Minister C Damodar Raja Narasimha on Saturday, August 22, urged government hospitals to refer patients to higher healthcare facilities only in emergencies.

Addressing a review meeting at the Directorate of Secondary Health Care, Narasimha said unnecessary referrals to higher hospitals burden patients and reduce those hospitals’ efficiency. He acknowledged that such referrals have reduced; however, the government has noticed a few cases still being referred to higher hospitals. Officials were warned of strict action if such practices continued.

He said community health centres (CHCs), area and district hospitals must be strengthened to provide comprehensive treatment locally, including major surgeries, so that patients are not forced to travel to tertiary-care hospitals.

He said DCHSs must ensure optimum utilisation of available doctors, staff, beds, medical equipment and diagnostic services at every hospital before referring patients elsewhere.

“The government had recruited 1,616 specialist doctors for district and area hospitals and CHCs, in addition to filling 607 assistant professor posts in teaching hospitals,” Narasimha said. He added that necessary infrastructure and equipment were also being provided.

The minister asked DCHSs to conduct surprise inspections of hospitals at least once a week and verify staff attendance, availability of medicines, functioning of equipment, diagnostic services, sanitation, drinking water and biomedical waste management.

He warned that absenteeism, leaving duty early, and negligence would invite action. Officials were also asked to identify infrastructure and operational problems early and resolve them without waiting for them to escalate.