Latest news with #Kayakalp
Time of India
a day ago
- Health
- Time of India
744 state health facilities honoured for excellence in implementing nat'l-quality services
Ranchi: The health department on Monday honoured outstanding public health institutions for implementing key national quality assurance initiatives like NQAS, LaQshya, MusQan, and Kayakalp. The event recognized 744 healthcare facilities across the state for their exceptional efforts in delivering high-quality services. Health minister Irfan Ansari, who graced the occasion as chief guest, said, "Until the health system of state becomes truly people-centric and efficient, I will not rest." He highlighted recent developments, including the establishment of six new medical colleges, the recruitment of 126 specialist doctors, and the upcoming launch of Rims 2.0 equipped with robotic treatment facilities. Notably, sadar hospital emerged as the top performer, securing the Kayakalp National Award and won a cash prize of Rs 50 lakh for excellence in cleanliness, hygiene, and infection control. The hospital was also named the Eco-Friendly Winner, receiving an additional Rs 10 lakh. Civil Surgeon Dr Prabhat Kumar, stated, "It's an honour for sadar hospital to receive multiple national recognitions in the last 18 months. We aim to continue setting new benchmarks in quality care." Several other hospitals in the district also received award under specific categories.
Mint
6 days ago
- Health
- Mint
Now cleanliness at hospitals to be an important criteria for quality certification
New Delhi: Hospitals will be checked for standards of cleanliness and hygiene from now on before they are granted National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) certification, said an official aware of the matter and a letter seen by Mint. Government funding for states and union territories is conditional on their health facilities getting the necessary NQAS certification—a set of standards for assessing and certifying the quality of public health facilities in India. The development comes against the backdrop of growing incidence of hospital infections. Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) pose a significant risk, impacting patient health and healthcare costs. In India, a 2022 Lancet report indicated a rate of 1.73 HAI cases per 1,000 patient days. This represents a slight increase from the 1.61 cases per 1,000 patient days reported in 2021. This strategic linkage uses Kayakalp to directly drive facilities towards achieving and maintaining high NQAS quality benchmarks, contributing to the "Ease of Living" for citizens. This will motivate public health facilities to achieve higher standards of hygiene, sanitation, waste management and overall upkeep, with a national goal for all facilities to attain NQAS certification by December 2026. A senior official in a communication to the State/UT government emphasized the health ministry's priority on quality certification for healthcare facilities for improving health indicators and achieving NQAS certification. According to the health ministry's communication dated 7 July 2025, seen by Mint, the new policy introduces a crucial change to the Kayakalp scheme. Previously, incentives were provided for Kayakalp (cleanliness and hygiene) performance and also upon achieving National level NQAS certification. The letter stated that now, facilities will only receive Kayakalp incentives if they apply for state-level NQAS certification within three months of receiving their Kayakalp results in the same financial year. This ensures a direct pathway from foundational improvements to formal quality recognition. Furthermore, to encourage progression from state to national certification, the union health ministry has decided that states can claim 25% of the national certification incentive once a facility achieves state-level NQAS certification. This partial incentive release is based on several strict criteria, i.e. the State Quality Assurance Committee is satisfied that the state certification has been conducted as per the protocol defined by the National Health System Resource Centre (NHSRC). 'The overall score of the facility in state certification is 80% and the score against each standard is 70%. There are no conditional requirements or pending compliances. The facility has applied for the NQAS certification within two months of getting the state certification. The remaining 75% of the incentive will be claimed after national certification is achieved," the letter said. Notably, out of 1.75 lakh (175,000) health facilities targeted for quality certification by next year, only 22,787 had achieved NQAS certification by December of last year. According to a Lancet report from 2018, India could potentially save a significant number of lives by improving healthcare quality. The study indicated that about 1.6 million deaths each year in the country are linked to substandard care, and that providing quality healthcare could prevent three out of five of these fatalities. There haven't been any newer studies in India on this specific issue since then. 'Cleanliness and quality are not luxuries in healthcare—they are fundamental rights of every patient. The Government of India's move to integrate Kayakalp with the NQAS is a vital step toward institutionalizing a culture of excellence in public health facilities. Certification under NQAS not only ensures better infection control, hygiene and patient safety but also builds public trust and staff morale. Having worked closely with accreditation systems and quality frameworks (NABH , CAHO and QCI) in India, I believe this structured and incentivized approach will significantly uplift standards of care across the country—especially when implemented with the full engagement of healthcare providers and state leadership. Clean, safe and quality-assured hospitals are the cornerstone of a healthier, more resilient India," said Dr. Alexander Thomas, founder and patron, Association of National Board Accredited Institutions (ANBAI) and Association of Healthcare Providers India (AHPI). Queries sent to the health ministry spokesperson remained unanswered.
The Hindu
17-07-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Govt. hospital in Alangudi gets NQAS, Kayakalp certification
The Government Hospital in Alangudi, Pudukkottai District, has been awarded the National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) and Kayakalp certification for the year 2025-26. According to an official press release, as part of the NQAS assessment, a team of officials from Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, and Visakhapatnam inspected the hospital, and enquired about professional knowledge, service, cleanliness, and the performance of its 13 departments. NQAS was instituted by the National Health and Family Welfare Department in 2013 to promote quality healthcare services in government hospitals and primary health centres. The standards are vetted by the National Society for Quality in External Health Care Quality Association. Kayakalp, a national initiative by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, aimed at promoting cleanliness, hygiene, and infection control in public healthcare facilities, has been rolled out in secondary and primary care facilities in Tamil Nadu through the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services and the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, respectively. M. Periyasamy, chief medical officer, said that these programmes had resulted in fewer hospital-acquired infections, early recovery, and discharge of patients in healthy conditions, indirectly improving the doctor-patient relationship.
United News of India
16-07-2025
- Health
- United News of India
CMO orders inspection of ultrasound machines
Dharamshala, July 16 (UNI) Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Rajesh Guleri today directed all concerned medical officers in Kangra district to conduct inspections of ultrasound machines installed across healthcare institutions. The directive came during a district-level review meeting held at the Zonal Hospital here. Chairing the meeting, Dr. Guleri lauded Kangra district's commendable achievements under the government's Kayakalp programme, which encourages cleanliness, hygiene, and quality healthcare services. He informed that 131 health institutions across the district qualified under various categories of Kayakalp standards this year. Among the top performers in Category-1 (large institutions) were Civil Hospital Palampur, which was awarded first place and a prize of Rs 35 lakh, Zonal Hospital Dharamshala, awarded second place, and Civil Hospital Kangra, received a consolation award for its first-time participation. CMO said that in Category-2, CHC Bir received a consolation award with a prize of Rs one lakh. In Category-3 (Ayushman Arogya Mandirs) PHC Dhaduan won first place and Rs two lakh, Kot Palahadi Health Block (Nurpur) secured first place, Dhandol Health Block (Mahakal) was ranked second, and Vadoohi Health Block (Nurpur) bagged third place. Dr. Guleri also reviewed the progress of several government health programmes, including the TB Eradication Programme, Rashtriya Bal Suraksha Karyakram (RBSK), Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK), PM-SHRI Yojana, and the National Immunization Mission. He issued detailed instructions to all Block Medical Officers (BMOs) to strengthen the implementation of these schemes. The meeting was attended by MS of Zonal Hospital Dr. Anuradha Sharma, District TB Officer Dr. Rajesh Sood, SMO Kangra, District Programme Officers, all BMOs, and staff members. Dr. Rajesh Sood conducted the proceedings of the meeting. UNI AR SS
Time of India
15-07-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Kids with heart conditions must get timely, quality treatment: Ukesh
Mysuru: Mysuru zilla panchayat CEO S Ukesh Kumar on Tuesday stressed the need to strengthen the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) and improve healthcare services for anganwadi and schoolchildren suffering from health issues. He emphasised that children referred for advanced treatment must be consistently followed up, ensuring their treatment is completed without delay. He was speaking at the district-level review meeting of national health programmes, held at Anubhava Mantapa auditorium, district health office. "Children with heart conditions must receive timely, quality treatment at super specialty hospitals. Early detection and management of health issues among children through regular check-ups at schools and anganwadi centres are crucial to reducing infant mortality," he said. Highlighting preventable infant deaths, he instructed taluk health officers to conduct facility and community-level reviews and submit taluk-wise reports, along with actionable recommendations. Regarding maternal deaths, he directed officials to seek reports from the district-level technical expert committee and initiate action against responsible parties where necessary. Calling for full implementation of the Kayakalp programme in 2025-26, Kumar asked health officials to review pending tasks and achieve 100% progress in internal, state, and national assessments within the next three months. He recommended including health progress discussions in monthly panchayat development officer (PDO) meetings and monthly revenue department reviews chaired by the deputy commissioner. The CEO also emphasised strict compliance with biomedical waste management protocols at Ayushman Arogya Mandirs and directed regular monitoring of Covid-19, influenza H1N1, dog bite, and snakebite cases under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP). 75 TB-related deaths Reviewing TB control efforts from Jan to June 2025, Kumar noted 75 TB-related deaths with a 7% mortality rate. He directed officials to reduce this below 5% and submit death audit reports without fail. Under the National Leprosy Eradication Programme, 78 active cases were reported in the district, primarily in T Narsipura, Nanjangud, and Mysuru city areas. Officials were asked to intensify weekly surveys and report suspected cases immediately.
