Only 2 govt hospitals match global quality

The Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences (MAIDS) in central Delhi has just got internationally-recognised Quality Council of India (QCI) accreditation.

The Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences (MAIDS) in central Delhi has just got internationally-recognised Quality Council of India (QCI) accreditation. The hospital is only the second to get this, after the Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya got a quality stamp in 2007.

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Though the Delhi government aimed to obtain quality stamps for all its 41 hospitals by 2010, it has managed to get the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals (NABH) certificate, awarded by the QCI, for only two of its facilities.

Most hospitals fail to comply with international standards. A majority of Delhi government hospitals do not even meet the basic fire safety norms and lack in other areas like staff preparedness, infection control and sanitation.

The latest report by the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) showed how major city government hospitals — Lok Nayak, Guru Tegh Bahadur and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya — are functioning without a fire NOC.

Just before the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the government had pumped in R11 crore to upgrade two of its hospitals — GB Pant and Lok Nayak. “We are working on getting all our hospitals ready for NABH accreditation. But one has to understand that most of the buildings are old constructions, it will take time to get the processes in place,” said Dr AK Walia, Delhi health minister.

“I have also called a meeting of all our medical superintendents, fire chief and PWD engineers to understand the gaps in our fire safety. We’ll try and rectify them soon,” he added.

“Even for the Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences, it was an uphill task to get all its fire-fighting equipment in place and staff trained to handle emergencies,” said BK Rana, joint director, QCI.

“The director delayed the final assessment by the QCI only to ensure that his hospital was ready to handle an emergency as fire safety is an important criterion,” said Rana.

“This is the only building on Lok Nayak campus, which has got fire-fighting arrangement with water sprinklers and smoke detectors,” said Dr Mahesh Verma, principal, MAIDS.

“Only after several drill sessions and checks did we get the fire nod, after which we qualified for NABH accreditation as it is one of the mandatory requirements of QCI,” he said.