THE ALLAHABAD High Court has directed the Principal Secretary, Medical and Health, UP to initiate disciplinary proceedings against doctors and paramedical staff of Community Health Centres (CHC) and Primary Health Centres (PHC) of the state, who are found absent from duty without permission.
Passing this direction, Justice Sunil Ambwani further directed that each CMO and Deputy CMO of the state shall make inspections of at least four CHCs and PHCs respectively every month.
“The Principal Secretary, Medical and Health, UP shall prepare a standard form/report (in Hindi) for inspections. This shall include the number of sanctioned posts, the doctors and para-medical staff posted, their attendance of last quarter, the facilities available, the functionality of the medical equipment made available, the number of patients attended in OPC and admitted in wards, the number of operations and medical procedures performed etc. Strict instructions be issued to CMO and Deputy CMO to complete the forms/reports of their inspection every month. The data so complied shall be forwarded on the next day of every inspection to nodal agency to be set up at the Directorate in Lucknow’’, the court directed.
The court further directed that every inspection memo shall be signed by Block Pramukh and BDO in case of CHCs and Pradhan and VDO of the villages covered by PHCs. The court further directed the CMOs of each district to publish the newspapers having wide circulation in their districts, the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the doctors, their duty hours and the CHCs/PHCs in which they are posted. “This information shall be published at least once in a month.
{{/usCountry}}The court further directed that every inspection memo shall be signed by Block Pramukh and BDO in case of CHCs and Pradhan and VDO of the villages covered by PHCs. The court further directed the CMOs of each district to publish the newspapers having wide circulation in their districts, the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the doctors, their duty hours and the CHCs/PHCs in which they are posted. “This information shall be published at least once in a month.
{{/usCountry}}The advertisement shall also give the telephone number of the office of CMO, and the committee to supervise the inspections. The committee shall also recommend disciplinary action for absentee medical officers and para medical staff’’, the court directed.
The court directed that the entire data shall be forwarded to the court every month on the date fixed in this matter. The court passed these directives on a petition (no-820 of 2002) filed by Rajesh Kumar Srivastava seeking ban on the unauthorized medical practitioners (quacks) in the state. The court also directed the State to comply with a direction of this court dated January 31, 2006, by which the Principal Secretary was required to constitute a panel to give a fresh look to the guidelines for regulating hospitals, nursing homes,pathology labs and diagnostic centres.