The Meghalaya High Court has suggested the State government to explore the feasibility of setting up a medical regulatory commission, on the lines similar to such bodies in other states, that would go into the complaints against the private hospitals and also to regulate the charges for all items at private medical hospitals.
The suggestion came up during a hearing on a public interest litigation on healthcare deficiencies in the State by the division bench of the High Court.
“It is common knowledge that because of the lack of beds in government hospitals, many patients are driven to private hospitals and the expensive treatment there sometimes brings more misery than the ailments that were sought to be treated. The State should be mindful of such problems faced by the citizens and take appropriate measures,” the High Court observed.
Advocate General Amit Kumar who appeared for the State government however told the court that a State health policy has been adopted and the same is being improved upon so that a roadmap is charted out of how best to augment the existing facilities and ensure that at a given point of time in the not-so-distant future, adequate facilities would be available so that citizens do not have to look to or go elsewhere for treatment.
Kumar also told the High Court that against the national guidelines based on the population, Meghalaya has 115 primary healthcare centres against the requirement of 107 of such centres. He also said that the State has 28 community health centres against the requirement of 27 as per the national guidelines.
However, the State is well short of the required number of health sub-centres. Against the requirement of 1067 health sub-centres, the State has 459 and it is proposed to add a further 300 sub-centres in the next four years. According to the State, one health sub-centre should be in place to cater to 3000 citizens and the calculations are based on the present and immediate projected population of the State of about 32 lakh.
The Advocate General also informed the court that in addition to the cancer wing which has been recently set up at the Shillong Civil Hospital, steps are being taken to acquire sophisticated equipment with funds to the extent of about Rs 8.36 crore available as per the earlier order of the High Court.
“Further funds are being infused for proper development of the cancer centres and the State has consulted specialists in such areas for the super specialty wing to be further developed,” he said.
Stating that at present there are no State medical colleges in Meghalaya and the only one available is at NEIGRIHMS, Kumar said that the State government has proposed to start at least two medical colleges, one in and around Shillong and the other near Tura.
“The Tura construction has been completed up to 30 per cent and steps are being taken to expedite the completion of the infrastructure and to start the process as expeditiously as possible and before the construction is fully completed,” Kumar said.
As far as Shillong is concerned, Kumar informed the court that it was initially proposed to set up a medical college with approximately 15 acre of land in the upcoming new Shillong township. However, the matter is being reconsidered and a decision will be arrived at soon so that the medical college becomes a reality over the next three or four years.
He also informed that in addition to the commitment of allocating eight per cent of the annual budget towards healthcare, the State government has obtained a loan of about Rs 370 crore for development of healthcare infrastructure and an amount of Rs 45 crore has already been allocated for construction, renovation and extension of the existing physical infrastructure.
After the submission by the Advocate General, the High Court ordered that the matter will appear after six weeks to enable the State government to indicate in somewhat greater detail than now as to its long-term and short-term plans in healthcare, including the augmentation of all facilities. The next hearing will be held on June 9.
