PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The Health department has issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) to check unnecessary referral of patients from government hospitals. Health secretary R Rajesh Kumar said that now no patient will be referred without a concrete medical reason from district and sub-district hospitals to medical college hospitals and other bigger hospitals. He said that on the directions of chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, it is being ensured that every patient receives primary treatment and specialist medical opinion at the district level itself. Unnecessary referral not only increases the pressure on resources but also prevents proper treatment of the patient in time.
Kumar said that the SOP issued by the department will bring transparency in the referral system and answerability while also ascertaining the medical basis. According to the SOP, a patient will be referred to a higher centre if there is no specialist needed for treatment. The senior doctor on duty will check the patient and decide on the referral. Referral on the basis of information received by phone or e-mail will not be valid.
The SOP states that in case of an emergency, the on-duty specialist can take a life saving decision on Whatsapp/call but this will have to be entered into a document later on. The specific reason for referral like absence of specialist or lack of resources, among other reasons, will have to be mentioned in the referral form. In case the referral is found to be unnecessary or improper, the chief medical officer or chief medical superintendent will be held responsible.
The Health secretary further informed that clear guidelines have also been issued for ambulance services for transporting referred patients. The 108 ambulance service must be used for Inter Facility Transfer while departmental ambulances should be deployed in a planned manner. The technical condition and fitness of all departmental ambulances must also be ascertained.
Kumar informed that at present there are 272 ambulances of the 108 service, 244 departmental ambulances and only 10 mortuary vans in the State. There are no mortuary vans in some districts including Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat, Pauri and Nainital. The CMOs of these districts have been directed to immediately make alternate arrangements.
