NITI Aayog launches report on best practices in performance of district hospitals
Recently, NITI Aayog has released a report titled Best Practices in the Performance of District Hospitals.
This is the first report related to the performance appraisal of district hospitals. It marks the transition to a data-driven governance of healthcare delivery systems for the communities and people who benefit from health services.
This report has been jointly released by NITI Aayog, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and WHO-India.
According to the report, district hospitals in India have an average of 24 beds per 1 lakh population. In these figures, Bihar has minimum 6 beds and Puducherry has maximum 222 beds.
The Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) 2012 guidelines recommended that district hospitals should have at least 22 beds per 1 lakh population (based on 2001 census).
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended at least 500 beds per one lakh people.
Public Health Care in India:
- Health is a state subject.
- The public health care infrastructure in India has been developed as a three-tier system.
As per IPHS, the following are mandatory for district hospitals:
- Services should be made more responsive and sensitive to the needs of the people of the district.
- The community should provide comprehensive secondary health care, specialist and counseling services.
India’s three-tier health system
- Primary Health Care: Health and Wellness Center (HWC), Sub Center (SC) and Primary Health Center (PHC)
- Secondary Health Care: District Hospital (DH), Sub-District Hospital, Community (CHC) at Block level, CHC and DH Specialists (Gynecologists, Pediatricians, Pediatricians, Surgeons)
- Tertiary health care: medical colleges and advanced health research institutes, specialized intensive care units, advanced clinical support services and specialized medical personnel.
Source – PIB
