Health department proposes action against Pune civil surgeon
The department has cited negligence in filling out the ODK tool kit, an essential system for evaluating healthcare facilities, and not proposing institutions for national quality assurance standards (NQAS) evaluation
The State Public Health Department has proposed disciplinary action against Pune district civil surgeon Dr Nagnath Yempallay for failure to implement key government guidelines related to healthcare institution accreditation. The department has cited negligence in filling out the ODK tool kit, an essential system for evaluating healthcare facilities, and not proposing institutions for national quality assurance standards (NQAS) evaluation, the officials said on Sunday.
Dr Radhakishan Pawar, deputy director of health services, Pune Region, on March 18 issued a letter directed to Dr Yempallay to submit a written defence statement within 10 days. The response must be submitted to both the director of health services and the deputy director’s office, Dr Pawar stated in the letter.
According to officials, Dr Yempallay is responsible for ensuring that healthcare institutions under his jurisdiction comply with the Indian public health standards (IPHS) set by the Central Government. The ODK tool kit, provided by the government, is meant to analyse gaps in facilities and help hospitals meet these standards. However, out of all healthcare institutions under Dr. Yempallay’s jurisdiction, only nine have scored above 80% as per the toolkit’s assessment.
Furthermore, no healthcare institution from the Pune district has been proposed for NQAS accreditation for the year 2024-25, despite multiple reminders from state health authorities.
“The Central Government has conducted training sessions, provided credentials, and issued several instructions through virtual meetings and official letters. Despite this, the implementation of these guidelines has been unsatisfactory,” the memorandum states.
The action against Dr Yempallay is being considered under rule 10 and rule 3 of the Maharashtra Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1979, due to his alleged failure to fulfil official responsibilities, they said.
“If Dr Yempallay fails to submit his defence statement within the given timeframe, it will be assumed that he has no intention of contesting the charges and an ex-parte decision will be taken against him,” said, Dr Nitin Ambadekar, director of health services.
Dr Yempallay said the response would be soon sent to the health department.
“At the institute level, the work has been completed but the subordinates and respective officials have failed to update that in the system. Also, the Gap analysis has been identified, and its compliance will be done in a period of three months. However, we are going to issue show cause notices for this laxity to the responsible officials,” he said.