Odisha Strengthening Delivery Of Healthcare Services In Line With SDG

Bhubaneswar: Odisha is marching ahead in healthcare under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. With his motto; ‘Every life is Precious’ the State has taken several reform measures for strengthening the delivery of healthcare services in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and to achieve Universal Health Coverage.

In the recent NITI Aayog SDG India Index 2020-21, Odisha’s position has improved from “Performer” to “Front Runner” under SDG Goal-3 related to ‘Good Health & Well-being’.

Odisha’s model in the sharpest decline in Malaria has been acknowledged globally by WHO. The State stood 2nd rank in the Country in 2021 for its efforts towards the elimination of TB.

Odisha has made a quantum leap with a 39-point decline by reducing IMR which is the highest point decline in the country.

The State has secured 1st rank among all States in Full Immunization coverage with 90.5% coverage achievement.

Odisha is the first state in the country to provide Air Health Service by flying specialists to rural interior areas of the state to bring the super specialist care to every corner of the state, under ‘Mukhya Mantri Bayu Swasthya Seba’.

During the time of Covid Pandemic, Odisha was one of the first States to create dedicated COVID-19 hospitals with ICUs in each district.

When several States of India grappled for life-saving oxygen, Odisha supplied 300 tonnes of oxygen to several parts of India.

By adoption of 5Ts initiatives and ‘Mo Sarkar’ strategies, the accountability of health officials in public health facilities has improved and patient satisfaction has increased.

In its endeavour to ensure zero out-of-pocket expenditure and provide universal health coverage, Odisha is the first and only State in the country to mandate free treatment for all persons, in all public health facilities.

The free services include free drugs, diagnostics, OPD, IPD, surgery, ICU, etc, in all government healthcare facilities, from Primary Health Centers to Medical College Hospitals. The free services can be availed by all people, irrespective of residence, caste, or economic status.

To enable this, the scheme ‘Niramaya’ was introduced for ensuring free drugs to all, ‘Nidaan’ for free diagnostic services, ‘Sahay” for the provision of free dialysis services in all districts. Further, free blood is being provided to the patients requiring blood in Public Health Facilities, and free chemotherapy facility is there for cancer patients.

In addition to providing free healthcare in all public health facilities, the State government has taken additional measures to safeguard the health of economically vulnerable sections of society, and women in particular, through the BSKY or Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana.

The BSKY provides cashless care in empanelled private hospitals, to over 96.5 lakh households. The cashless coverage is up to Rs 5 lakh per annum for a family and Rs 10 lakh per annum for women members of the family. All major hospitals within the State and premier hospitals across 16 States are empanelled under this scheme.

To defeat cancer, “BAGCHI SRISHANKAR CANCER HOSPITAL” with 750 beds and all modern amenities is being established in the State capital. Another 200 bedded State of the Art Cancer Hospital is in the process of being set up by Tata Memorial Center in collaboration with Govt. of Odisha and Department of Atomic Energy, Govt.of India in the NISER campus.

The Government of Odisha is also in the process of establishing dedicated cancer and cardiac care hospitals in Jharsuguda in a PPP mode.

With a goal to further strengthen health infrastructure, the State has taken the following measures:

• Seven new Medical Colleges have been inaugurated in the past few years and four more Medical Colleges are in the process.
• Capital Hospital has been upgraded to a Post Graduate Institute.
• Establishment of Odisha University of Health Sciences is underway.
• Affordable Healthcare projects for setting up hospitals providing specialist care have been planned in four locations i.e Angul, Barbil, Jharsuguda and Bhadrak, in PPP mode.

Odisha, under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is marching ahead to become a symbol of excellence in the Health Care System across the globe.

The Healthcare session at the Senior Officers Conference was held in the forenoon of      14^th February, 2023.  The theme of this session was “Quality health care for all – Ama Hospital and BSKY”.

The session was led by Shalini Pandit, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, H&FW along with Dibya Jyoti Parida, Collector, Ganjam, Chanchal Rana, Collector, Bolangir, and Somesh Kumar Upadhayay, Collector Deogarh.

Discussion was first held on Ama Hospital, where it was emphasized that the 5T transformation of hospitals has to be patient-centered. Secretary Health & Family Welfare presented the following best practices on patient-centered care, which could be adopted by all districts under Ama Hospital transformation.

• Online OPD Appointment – a best practice of Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar, which significantly reduces queues and OPD waiting time.
• Digitization of Laboratory Tests – a best practice of Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar, which enables patient to get SMS link to the laboratory report which can be downloaded anywhere.
• Automated Queue Management – a best practice of Mayurbhanj district, where tokens are given to patients during OPD registration and the numbers are called out and displayed on a screen, while patients wait in comfort on chairs, instead of standing in queues.
• Digital Information System & Touch Kiosk – a best practice of Koraput district which enables patients and attendants to get information on services available, doctors and nurses duty schedules, drugs stock, blood stock etc., through audio visual displays and interactive touch screens.
• Re-use of discarded water of RO Plant – a best practice of Jharsuguda district through which the waste water of the RO Plant is stored and recycled for use in mopping of floors, watering plants etc.

Collector Bolangir spoke on two best practices of his district:

• Patient attendant restricted entry pass for IPD – which reduces crowding in wards and improves infection control and patient recovery.
• Dedicated stretcher pathway for patient movement – which ensures quick and seamless transfer of patients between departments within the hospital campus.

During the discussion on BSKY, Secretary Health & Family Welfare emphasized on the role of Collectors in monitoring of the scheme. Collectors were advised to ensure empanelment of all good hospitals in district under BSKY and make regular visits to empanelled hospitals by self and squads. Hospitals against whom repeated grievances arise should be enquired into in detail and if required they can be dis-empanelled and action taken against them.

Collector Ganjam spoke about BSKY best practice of his district where patient feedback is collected by a team and a District level Monitoring Cell follows up on the same.

Collector Deogarh spoke of innovative measures taken by his district to improve accountability and achieve quality healthcare and Kayakalp certification of hospitals.

The presentation was followed by discussion with all Collectors on the overall vision of the Hon. Chief Minister for the Health & Family Welfare Department, to expand and improve healthcare services with focus on patient satisfaction, to ensure a healthy and happy Odisha. Accordingly, the priority areas for the Department would be as follows:

1. 5T transformation of selected DHHs, SDHs & CHCs with focus on FRUs
2. Scaling up of BSKY
3. Replacing older vehicles in 108 ambulance fleet and reducing response time of the ambulance service
4. Opening of Kalahandi Medical College & Hospital

Apart from the above initiatives, the following health infrastructure projects are scheduled for completion and commissioning in the near future:

Major Health Projects to be Completed within next 14 Months