Chief Secretary reviews functioning of Health, Medical Education Department

Jammu, Jan 17 : Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta today chaired a meeting to review the functioning of the Health and Medical Education Department and progress achieved under the CAPEX Budget during this financial year.

The Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department, Director, SKIMS, concerned HoDs, Principals of all Medical Colleges, and other senior officers of the Department attended the meeting.

It was informed that 422 drugs are provided free of cost across all government hospitals, especially under maternal and child health care through government drugs stores. The Chief Secretary directed the Health Department to submit a report on procurement, storage, and distribution of free medicines in all government facilities, besides raising awareness on the provision of free medicines through displayed lists at prominent places in the hospital premises.

Further, to streamline prescriptions of drugs by doctors, the Chief Secretary directed a prescription audit and asked the Department to ensure that all doctors produce their seal and signature on the prescription card, in case the prescribed drugs include non-generic medicines to be procured from the market.

Dr Mehta emphasized switching over to digital prescriptions by the next financial year through suitable provisions in the CAPEX budget, which will be a step ahead in the direction of implementing e-Health Services in the Union territory. He maintained that the system is to be further integrated with a patient feedback mechanism on the quality of services available at government hospitals through ‘Mera Haspatal’ initiative by February 2022.

With a view to improve the standards of healthcare at all institutions across Jammu and Kashmir, the Chief Secretary impressed upon the Department to introduce the Health Management Information System by March 2022. The Department was also asked to obtain quality certification for all Health Care Facilities within one year, and conduct regular training of the healthcare professionals.

Moreover, the Health and Medical Education Department was asked to notify a quality policy to be followed by the government health care institutions to ensure uniformity of treatment throughout the Union territory, while maintaining a high level of hygiene and cleanliness.

Dr Mehta also directed the concerned to ensure adequate testing, fast-tracked vaccination in the 15-17 age category, and the best possible treatment to the COVID patients.

With regard to the completed works under the UT and District CAPEX and PMDP, the Department was asked to compile a compendium of completed projects with all details and geo-tagged photographs, to be put in the public domain for public view.