Hyderabad: The KCR Kit, launched by Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao on Saturday, is already facing trouble, thanks to the few and untrained paramedical staff of Modern Government Maternity Hospital in the city.
At the inauguration of the scheme itself, a representation was made to the CM wherein he was informed about the shortage of staff-mainly nurses, ward boys and ayahs-that the hospital is currently facing.
Acknowledging the shortage, the CM said, “If there is a shortfall, let us take it as a challenge and work accordingly.”
The KCR kits have received a good response from the public and registrations have increased in public health centres and area hospitals. But an increase in registrations also mean that adequate and efficient service has to be provided to the patients to effectively meet the healthcare demand.
A senior health official explained, “The scheme is good and very attractive for the people but the implementation has to be proper for it to succeed and bring back people's confidence in government hospitals. There has to be proper patient care and they must be treated with patience and care during the sensitive hours of labour. There must be enough staff to deal with emergencies and also the quality of medicines and medical equipments has to improve.”
Presently, the existing capacity of the Maternity Hospital is under utilised as expectant mothers and their families are opting for private medical care and hospitals.
The KCR Kit is a step towards encouraging mothers-to-be to register themselves at the government run hospital. Currently, of the 6.28 lakh deliveries in the state only 30 per cent are taking place in government hospitals. The effort now is to increase this to 50 per cent.
There are nine teaching hospitals, six district hospitals, three mother and child centres, 30 area hospitals, 114 community health centres, 314 primary health centres and 365 public health centres which are supposed to be operational 24/7.
The kits will be distributed at all these medical centres but there has to be a strengthening from the base level so that the confidence of the people is retained.
Another health officer on condition of anonymity explained, “The system has worked in Tamil Nadu and they have been able to shift the focus to patient care. While the existing system design is good on paper, its implementation at the ground level must also be properly carried out.”
