The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) will be brought into the Government’s flagship health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat. The programme, officially known as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), provides a range of healthcare services to economically vulnerable citizens to the tune of Rs 5 lakh per family per year. In its first year, […]
hospitals
Biomedical waste flagged by Bihar authorities
The Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) has ordered the closure of 318 health facilities in the state over improper biomedical waste disposal, highlighting a national pollution and sanitation issue. “These healthcare units earlier disposed their biomedical wastes through the CBWTF [common biomedical waste treatment and disposal facility], but later got dissociated from this system, […]
Ayushman Bharat fraud: More than 300 hospitals in hot water
In the implementation of the Centre’s flagship health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat, fraud has been a major issue. The number of hospitals flagged for fraudulent and corrupt practices exceeds 300, the Government informed the Rajya Sabha earlier this week. “More than 338 hospitals have been served show-cause notice/suspended/de-empanelled in different states and penalties of over […]
Ayushman Bharat admissions need to go up in Uttar Pradesh
Ayushman Bharat admissions must go up in Uttar Pradesh, with Dr Indu Bhushan urging a threefold increase in the state. The relatively low pace of implementation in the state could be linked to inadequate infrastructure, with the state empanelling just 2,312 hospitals under the scheme and being home to approximately 2,628 health and wellness centres. […]
Nanoparticles to help tackle hospital-acquired infections
New research has suggested the use of nanoparticles to prevent hospital-acquired infections resulting from medical equipment. Research published in the American Chemical Society Applied Interfaces and Material indicates that nanoparticles can be utilised to detect the presence of life-threatening microbes on medical devices and then be used to remove them, thereby reducing the risk of […]
Karnataka doctors’ strike withdrawn
The Karnataka doctors’ strike ended at the close of the week with assurances of security in the workplace, putting an end to a week-long agitation by medicos at Minto Hospital and others affiliated with the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI). As with past stirs by doctors in India, the Karnataka doctors’ strike was […]
“The difference between life and death” – Vice President stresses the importance of emergency medicine
At a recent conference in New Delhi, Vice President Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu stressed the importance of emergency medicine, calling its availability “the difference between life and death”. India played host to the tenth Asian Conference on Emergency Medicine in the national capital, bringing together more than 2,000 emergency medicine specialists from 32 countries. The Vice […]
Could the Bengaluru doctors’ strike go national?
The Bengaluru doctors’ strike over an assault on two of their colleagues could mushroom into a national movement. Allegedly, two resident doctors at Minto Hospital were “manhandled” by members of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), a pro-Kannada organisation. The dispute originated from a demand for compensation for patients at a camp for the treatment of […]
OPDs in Delhi see increase in footfall
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced that footfall at the national capital’s hospitals has doubled in outpatient departments (OPDs). Whilst acknowledged that the increased traffic at OPDs is a “big challenge”, the Chief Minister pledged that the state government would “scale up our facilities” to cope with the rise in demand. “We hope in […]
Following infant death, hospitals in the firing line in Hyderabad over fire safety
On Monday, a fire broke out in Shine Children’s Hospital in the L.B. Nagar area of Hyderabad. Tragically, a four-month-old infant was killed in the blaze whilst four other patients were injured. The incident has led to concerns being expressed about fire safety norms conformity in Hyderabad’s hospitals. The fire broke out on the hospital’s […]