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 […]
hospitals
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 […]
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 […]