(4th November, 2014); Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister, said here today that the government would institutionalise a regulatory authority with full powers to oversee all-round quality standards enforcement and consumer protection under the National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM).
“NHAM is going to be the biggest ever health outreach with universal health insurance as a strong component. While quantitatively India will leapfrog into a new era, quality should not be compromised. Quality and quantity are not mutually exclusive,” the Minister said in his keynote address here today at a two-day Ministry of Health-conducted National Convention on Quality in Public Health.
Dr Harsh Vardhan disclosed that the expert body headed by Prof. Ranjit Ray Choudhury had recommended that NHAM should be accountable to the people for deficiencies in delivery. That is why principles of consumer protection would come into play. Safety, Effectiveness and Positive Patient Experience would be the key points, the Minister pointed out.
He observed, “Why should a government facility be identified with sloth and sloppiness while a private one is identified with reliability? It is time a new culture takes over. I want to make transparency, efficiency, compassion and accountability the pillars of the public health system when NHAM is operationalised next year.”
Key to the new culture would be implementation of “Swacch Bharat”, the Prime Minister’s vision of a society which is intolerant to decay and apathy launched on October 2, the Health Minister stated.
Dr Harsh Vardhan said, “Swachh Bharat is not only about symbolic clean-up. It means reinvigoration and self-purification. Let us see it as a wake-up call and thoroughly overhaul our systems so that we can prove to the world that India too can have a world class public health system.”
Dr. Harsh Vardhan pointed out that no Prime Minister before Shri Narendra Modi had articulated the need to bridge the gulf between government delivery systems and citizen expectation. “We are proud to have a Prime Minister today who has lived the life of an ordinary citizen for most of his life and knows how small people are humiliated and slighted by government service providers,” Dr Harsh Vardhan said.
He urged officials to recognise that patients are the very purpose behind having a health sector. “We are dependent on them for existence. They do not exist because of us,” he stressed.
Dr Harsh Vardhan highlighted the importance of seeking patients’ feedback. By seeking out what the patients and their family members think of the system, those who are in charge can derive objective lessons and improve the delivery of services.
By deliverers of services the Minister meant that everybody from the stretcher bearer to the doctor needs to be conscious about doing his own share of the work well. “It is not impossible to meet the challenges because all we need to do is to focus on improving the quality of service in each area,” he said.
Dr Harsh Vardhan remarked, “Quality is not something abstract. It is the sum total of professionalism flowing from every branch of service. It cannot be entirely enforced from above, but should spontaneously pour from every pore of the health system. I know there is a killer instinct to excel, so please do it.”
The Health Secretary, Shri Lov Verma, speaking at the Convention, highlighted the critical importance of institutionalising quality assurance in delivering of health service, including the service and technical/clinical quality. The Health Secretary stated that a “Medical Audit”, not for punitive action, but for learning from the mistakes and correcting the system, is also need of the hour. In addition, he laid stress on regular monitoring of services through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which may be reviewed through field visits and review meetings.
The Minister released the Assessor’s Guide for Quality Assurance in PHCs, on the occasion. Those present included Mr Lov Verma, Union Health Secretary, Dr Jagdish Prasad, Director-General of Health Services, Dr Sanjiv Kumar, Executive Director, National Health Systems Resource Centre, and Mr C.K.Mishra, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Health, and mission directors of all states of the country.
