Ranchi: The health department has set an ambitious target to ensure that all govt-run health institutes across the state are certified under the National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) by Dec, in a major push to strengthen public healthcare delivery.On the eve of World Health Day, department officials said that the move is aimed at improving the overall quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare services, while ensuring that patients receive scientific and standardised treatment across hospitals, community health centres (CHCs) and public health centres (PHCs).Jharkhand has already achieved NQAS certification for around 56% out of the total 3,551 health centres by March. Only 8 per cent of the total health centres were certified under NQAS till March last year.Additional chief secretary (health), Ajoy Kumar Singh, said that taking inspiration from last year’s achievement, the department has targeted to ensure NQAS certification of all health centres by the end of this year.“To get NQAS certification, certain criteria, including quality treatment to patients, better hospital infrastructure, availability of medicines, and right disposal of biomedical waste, hospital’s cleanliness, and many other parameters, have to be fulfilled. So the department is focusing on all health care centres getting NQAS certification, aiming to ensure better facilities for patients across the state,” Singh said.Singh added that the department has started various initiatives to encourage all hospital authorities to upgrade their facilitiess so that they can get NQAS certification.“In the last two years, the department has launched different schemes to provide financial assistance to health centres. District hospitals get a yearly assistance of Rs 75 lakh, sub-divisional hospitals get Rs 50 lakh, and CHCs and PHCs get Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, respectively. Ayushman Arogya Mandirs get Rs 2 lakh to improve their facilities,” Singh added.Dr Ranjit Prasad, state nodal officer (quality assurance) of Jharkhand chapter of National Health Mission, said that the initiatives taken by the department have resulted in increased numbers of NQAS certified hospitals.“In 2023, there was not a single NQAS-certified health centre in the state. But repeated push from the department has positioned Jharkhand in the third rank among states in the country (in securing NQAS certification for hospitals).”
