Jayadeva, only govt hospital to get NABH tag

Strange but true. Only one government hospital in the state has the accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH). A few others have applied for it, but have not been able to get it due to several shortcomings.

In all, only 38 health care facilities (including hospitals, clinics, diagnostics and ayush centres) have the accreditation. The autonomous Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences (JICSR) is the only government hospital to have NABH accreditation.

KC General Hospital and Jayanagar General Hospital just have a progressive-level certificate from the rating agency. Both these hospitals have been asked to scale-up manpower and improve infrastructure to qualify for full ranking.

Dr K K Karla, former CEO, NABH, said that like in most other states, one of the main shortcomings here is infrastructure. “In a government set-up, none considers the hospital as their own. Also, there is shortage of manpower, a necessity to get accreditation,” he said.

He said that while NABH asks hospitals to have a 1:1 ratio of nurses and number of beds, in most parts of the state, it is only six nurses for every 100 beds. “Among the south Indian states, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have more number of accredited hospitals,” he said.

Even as an entry-level accreditation (basic requirements to be met) was introduced recently, none of the district hospitals nor PHCs in Karnataka has applied.

Dr C N Manjunath, director, JICSR, said that not only does accreditation assure the patient quality treatment, but also safety. “There is a prescribed rule for everything. Hospitals are expected to follow a separate pattern, even while writing the prescription and later document it. This will stop erratic use of medicines,” he added.

Manjunath said that the hospital was expected to train staff nurses and paramedics to improve treatment. “We ought to have codes to attend to every emergency. Duties of every staff member of the hospital should be streamlined.”

Dr Karla said that in an attempt to improve the quality of treatment and boost medical tourism, Ayush ministry recently issued directions that all Ayush facilities must mandatorily apply for accreditation.