A view of a hospital ward in Assam in response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic Image credit: AnjanBorah, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons The initial wave of COVID-19 in India had already pushed hospitals to breaking point. The second wave has seen both daily cases and death counts triple, with many now dying […]
hospitals
WASH: WHO, UNICEF issue stark warning about sanitation
Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF issued a dire warning about the state of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services in health facilities. Almost two billion people worldwide rely on healthcare delivery in settings where those services are substandard – or lacking altogether. The global progress report on WASH services in […]
Hospital waste handling in sights of Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has taken note of hospital waste handling in the national capital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Protocols outlined by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for disposal of waste such as swabs and testing kits ought to be “scrupulously followed”, the High Court told the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led state government. This […]
Patient safety in a time of COVID-19
Patient safety is critical. When we are admitted to a medical facility, we expected to be cared for – not endangered. Yet it is an area where too often we fall short. Today marks World Patient Safety Day – an observance which, to quote the World Health Organization (WHO), serves “to enhance global understanding of […]
Ventilators, oxygen and COVID
The number of Indian COVID-19 patients requiring ventilators is low, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has reported. Of currently-infected patients, just 0.33 percent require assistance breathing with ventilators and 1.5 percent require oxygen support. 2.34 percent are in intensive care, the Minister said. The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India – the […]
Psychiatric hospitals: The Indians ‘illegally detained’
In 36 psychiatric hospitals across 24 states, thousands of Indians continue to stay even after reporting positive treatment outcomes according to a recent report published in The Times of India. This is what a petition filed before the Supreme Court by advocate Guarav Kumar Bansal alleges. “Holding [patients] indefinitely in the hospital amounts to illegal […]
Private practice ban in Jammu and Kashmir?
Doctors in the employ of government hospitals could face a ban on private practice in Jammu and Kashmir in a bid to strengthen health infrastructure in the union territory. Reports suggest that government doctors in Jammu and Kashmir opt to treat their patients in privately run facilities and are absent from their posts in government […]
SAIL hospitals brought into the fold on Ayushman Bharat
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, […]
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 […]