Pune health officials rank among five worst performers in Maha
In state-wide assessment of national healthcare programmes conducted by public health department, the civil surgeon of Pune district ranked last while district health officer stood 31st out of 34 districts
PUNE: In a state-wide assessment of national healthcare programmes conducted by the public health department, the civil surgeon of Pune district ranked last while the district health officer (DHO) of Pune stood 31st out of 34 districts, marking both officials among the five worst performers in Maharashtra. According to officials, the assessment of national healthcare programmes was carried out across 34 districts of Maharashtra in September, and the report was released this week.
The evaluation revealed significant shortcomings in the implementation of key health programmes such as maternal health, nutrition, family planning, dialysis and rabies control among others. It revealed that administrative inefficiencies and compromised healthcare services have negatively impacted public healthcare programmes in Pune.
The civil surgeon scored 33% placing him at the bottom of the rankings while the DHO scored 41.80%, securing him 31st position among 34 districts. Notably, the performance of both the civil surgeon and DHO declined as compared to August this year.
The civil surgeon’s performance was found unsatisfactory in several areas including maternal health, nutrition, family planning, National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), National Leprosy Eradication Programme, National Programme for Healthcare of the Elderly (NPHCE), and non-communicable diseases. The National Programme for the Control of Blindness, dialysis services, hospital administration, and finances were poorly managed.
Whereas the district health officer was found ineffective in implementing programmes related to maternal health, child health, family planning, adolescent health, National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) and rabies control within his jurisdiction. Furthermore, the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD), National Urban Health Mission, Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centre (HWC) scheme, and administration and finance were poorly managed.
Dr Nitin Ambadekar, director of health services, Maharashtra, wrote to the civil surgeon and DHO saying, “There is a need to give special attention to this programme. Please review programmes that have unsatisfactory work performance and implement measures to improve them.”
However, Dr Nagnath Yempalay, district civil surgeon, said that the ranking criteria are wrong and Pune is among the best-performing districts. He said that in Pune, more in-house advanced healthcare services are provided and not door-to-door services. “The performance in Pune district is good but there is a mismatch when it comes to the data, as there was a delay in submitting the report on the part of the programme heads. However, we have issued four show cause notices to the programme heads,” said Dr Yempalay.