Process underway for 5 new GMCs, 7 other DHs
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 17: In a major achievement, Government Hospital Gandhi Nagar, Jammu has become the first District Hospital in Union Territory of J&K to get two seats for DNB courses in Department of Medicine.
Official sources told Excelsior that DNB courses have been introduced in District Hospitals and new Government Medical Colleges to strengthen the institutions and to address the shortage of specialists in the UT of J&K.
They said that at present Sheri-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura, two Government Medical Colleges of Jammu/ Srinagar and one Private Medical College at Jammu are fully functioning tertiary care institutes in the UT of J&K. Besides these, the two AIIMS like institutes and five new Government Medical College are also coming up in J&K in due course of time.
“However, there are many districts which are without any such existing or proposed institutes and in these districts, the District Hospitals are functioning sub optimally in terms of desired service delivery because of the issues of quality and non availability of specialist HR,” sources said, adding, these District Hospitals needed to be strengthened in various vital areas viz. Kayakalp, NQAS, Blood Banks under NACO, National Disease Control Programme, Manpower etc.
According to the sources, in order to strengthen the District Hospitals and new GMCs, the process of implementation of DNB courses in the Districts was initiated, so that after the implementation of the DNB courses in these District Hospitals and GMCs, they deliver tangible results in terms of HR and service delivery.
After the approval of SAC, Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education Department, Atal Dulloo, and Bhupinder Kumar, Mission Director, NHM, J&K, steered the process of applying for DNB Courses in District Hospitals and New Government Medical Colleges and accordingly, 8 District Hospitals and 5 new GMCs applied for DNB courses to National Board of Examinations.
Sources said that consequent to the concerted efforts and hard work of team of DH Gandhi Nagar, National Board of Examination, New Delhi has granted two seats to the institution in the Department of Medicine. However, DH Udhampur, DH Poonch, JLNMH Srinagar, DH Pulwama, CHC Kupwara, DH Ganderbal, DH Kulgam and five new GMCs of J&K namely GMC Rajouri, GMC Kathua, GMC Doda, GMC Anantnag and GMC Baramulla are yet to get the seats and the inspection process in these institutions is under process.
The districts applying for DNB courses also prepared for accreditation under NQAS by Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, with the result that two District Hospitals namely District Hospital Udhampur and Gandhi Nagar Hospital, Jammu have qualified the National Quality Assurance Standards and quality certified by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
They further informed that for meeting the IPHS norms of Government of India in DNB Districts, NHM J&K has got additional sanction of Staff Nurses for DNB institutions and currently 42 additional nurses have also been provided to each District Hospital implementing DNB programme.
“Additional Beds along with the accessories and monitors have been provided to these District Hospitals by National Health Mission while Government of India has also approved establishment of 8-bedded Hybrid ICU in each DNB District Hospital.