Upgradation of existing healthcare infrastructure Govt’s priority: Health Minister

Jammu, Feb 9: Minister for Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Itoo, Monday informed the Legislative Assembly that upgradation of the existing healthcare infrastructure is top priority of the government, with special focus on rural and peripheral areas.
The Minister stated this while replying to a question raised by Legislator Mir Mohammad Fayaz regarding SDH Kupwara in the House today.
The Health Minister informed that as per Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) norms, each district across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is mandated to have one District Hospital. In case of Kupwara, the District Hospital has already been upgraded to the level of an Associated Hospital of Government Medical College (GMC) Handwara, thereby catering tertiary healthcare services to the population of the region. She added that upgradation of a District Hospital to the level of a Super-Speciality Hospital does not fall within the ambit of IPHS norms.
The Minister also informed that a 50-bedded Critical Care Block (CCB) is presently under construction at Sub-District Hospital Kupwara at an estimated cost of Rs. 23.75 crore under ECRP-II. Besides, a District Integrated Public Health Laboratory (DIPHL) and Block Public Health Units (BPHUs) are being established at various health facilities in the district under the PM-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), she added.
The Minister further said that Sub-District Hospitals (SDHs) have been strengthened in terms of human resources, machinery and equipment thereby enabling them to provide services at par with District Hospitals across the UT. She added that to address critical gaps, the department is committed towards strengthening the existing healthcare facilities strictly in line with the IPHS 2022 norms like extending support to the general public through rationalization of services and development of robust e-Sanjeevani/tele-medicine facilities under a well-designed hub-and-spoke model. Mobile Medical Units are also being conceptualized to ensure healthcare delivery in hard-to-reach and geographically challenging areas, she said.
The Health Minister added that to augment medical and para-medical staff that commensurate with the patient inflow, the department is undertaking rationalization of existing resources. She said that a comprehensive plan is being implemented to optimally redistribute available staff across health facilities in the district, with particular focus on Sub-District Hospital (SDH) Kupwara.
She said that rationalization and periodic transfer of long posted staff is being undertaken to systematically bridge the gap between patient inflow and staff strength, ensuring equitable and efficient healthcare delivery across the district.
The Health Minister apprised the House that the several measures have been undertaken to improve the service delivery and quality of care at Sub-District Hospital (SDH) Kupwara. These included enforcement of duty rosters, attendance and service norms across all staff categories, regular supervisory visits and monitoring by district and divisional health authorities, strengthening of emergency services, diagnostics, pharmacy and referral systems, implementation of National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) for systematic enhancement of patient care and others.
Legislator Mir Saifullah raised the supplementary.