Building National Rural Health Delivery Systems

Item

Title
Building National Rural Health
Delivery Systems
extracted text
H-ALTH C£tt
^26, V
I Block
Kofarnfingala
®angalore-560034 *
India

ASPECTS OF DESIGN , CONSTRUCTION, MANAGEMENT
AND

OPERATION

I I 341 I

A SAG
AHMEDABAD

COURTESY:
DIRECTORATE OF HEALTH SERVICES
GOVERNMENT OF MAHARASHTRA

study action group, palaL bldg., behind hotel capri, relief RD. AHMEDABAD- H

COMMUNITY HEALTH cell

3UILDING NATIONAL
RURAL HEALTH
DELIVERY SYSTEMS
ASPECTS OF DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, MANAGEMENT,

AND

A SAG

OPERATION

COURTESY:
DIRECTORATE OF HEALTH SERVICES
GOVERNMENT OF MAHARASHTRA

IahMEDABAD STUDY ACTON GROUP, DALAL BLDG., BEHIND HOTEL CAPRI, RELIEF RD. AHMEDABAD - 1 |

CONTENTS

FOREWORD
CHAPTER I: Antecedents
CHAPTER II: Perspectives

CHAPTER III: The Need For Health Services at

Village Level
CHAPTER IV: The Concept Of The Rural

Hospitals

CHAPTER V: Facilities For A Primary

Health Centre

CHAPTER VI: Facilities Required In

A Rural Hospital

CHAPTER VII: Cost Analysis And Optimisation For A

Rural Health Delivery

System

CHAPTER VIII: Recommendations For RH/PHC Management

Organ!3 ation
CHAPTER IX: Procedures And Recommendations For RH/PHC

Design,

Construction

And Commissioning

FOREWORD

At the time we were invited by the Directorate of Health

Services,

Government of Maharashtra, to explore the

possibilities of making reductions in cost of rural

hospitals and primary health centres, we were involved
in studying the physical condition of the Lowest Income

Decile (poorest 10%) children of 3600 families in 60
villages of DhoIk a Taluka,

Ahmedabad District.

This led

to further studies and a proposal for "Comprehensive

Assistance to Low Income Rural Mothers and Children".

It was an opportune contrast to examine from government

level, the problems associated with developing national

rural health improvement systems.

It appears that there is an irreconciliable difference in
the role of government-provided medical services and in
the role of community health services.

Medico-legal cases,

though few, cast their shadow, over the attitudes government
doctors must take in dealing with communities and the general

public.

Although definitely required,

a good deal more thought is

necessary regarding the modalities of Health Services

expansion.

Jagdish Nazareth

April 4,

1905

CHAPTER I

Antecedents:

Thia note ia baaed on:
a)

Experiences gained by village level health surveys
and action on the physical status of children from
poor rural families in a block of 60 villages, in

Dholka taluka,

b)

Ahmedabad district, Gujarat State.

Discussions and observations during two field trips

in 8 districts of Mahatrashtra organised by the
Directorate of Health Services, to dispensaries,
primary health centres and rural hospitals in

October 1983 and June 1984.

2

CHAPTER II

Perspectives:
all medical and health

At the time of Independence,

matters were regulated by the office of the SurgeonGeneral.

Under him,

there wore Civil

State and District levels.

Hospitals at

The function of the Civil

Hospitals were related largely to thfe medical or
curative aspect and the medico-legal

post-mortems,

aspect such as

accidents, etc.

In the 1960s the Government of India and the State

Governments ; began work on several preventive health
measures such as:

sanitation,

small-pox and malaria eradication,

This led to the

and family planning.

setting up of the Primary Health Centre network at

block

and tehsil-levol.

Because of the shortage of

medically qualified personnel, many of these personnel

were termed para-medical staff,

because they held

qualifications such as graduate degrees in Science.
These para medical

staff were subsequently placed

under the District Health Officers (DHO), who were in

turn,

incorporated into the Zilla Parishad

(ZP)

structure•

In 1970,

the Government decided to

amalgamate medical

and para-medical staff in Maharashtra.

The Directorate

of Health Services was created to deal with the task
of preventive and medical

services in rural

areas.

At

the same time, other Directorates for Medical Education
and Research,

for Drug Control,

and for Employees State

Insurance Scheme medical

services were hived off the

Surgeon General’s office.

The large urban teaching

were therefore placed outside the purview of the

Directorate of Health Services.

5

During ths 1970s ths Government expanded the Primary

Health Centre

(PHC) network under the ZPs and DHOs.

Each PHC catered to approximately one taluka,
block.

tehsil or

Because of the inheritance of preventive

traditions, the PHCs were expected to supervise village­

level

sub-centres and dispensaries,

and periodically

hold camps on various health matters.

The PHCs normally had 6 beds for in-door patients and an

operation theatre.
subsequently,

However,

for reasons detailed

PHC doctors normally

found it necessary to

refer most cases of medical surgery to the district civil
hospitals.

The operation theatres were used for deliveries

and family planning operations.

In the mid-70s, most

known as a Rural

PHCs received another building

family Welfare and Planning Centre.

These RFWPCs also had operation theatres, which again,

were used mainly for family planning operations.

In the 1900s it began to be felt that the emphasis on
preventive health measures was working to the detriment
of the medical aspects.
appendectomies,

For simple emergencies like

pregnancy complications,

premature

babies and accident victims, the place of automatic
referral was the district hospital.

Accordingly it was decided to insert a 3rd tier between
the

PHC and the district hospital, known as the rural

hospital.

The decision however is quite recent and

many points of debate and discussion have emerged.

This

Note is an attempt to detail and synthesize the possibilities
and implications arising out of this decision.

4

CHAPTER III

The Need For Health Services at Village Level:
It would be interesting to itemise the normal need for

health and medical

services a village usually requires □

on an ongoing basis:

- Ante-natal maternal medical examination and treatment
- Natal services
- Referral of complicated cases in delivery

(emergencies)

- Treatment of post-natal complications (peritonitis­
tetanus)
- Abortions and Medical Termination of Pregnancies
- Family planning operations: vasectomies,

tubectomies,

1aparo scopy

- Neo-natal immunisation

- Paediatric illnesses
- Appendectomies

- Tubercolosis detection and control
- Worms infestation

- Agricultural accidents (particularly in tractorised
and mechanised areas)

- Road accidents
- Snake and rabid animals

(dogs, monkeys) bite

- Opthalmological troubles

- Post-mortems

- Fevers
- Burn cases

The occurrence of these events can be
predicted by statistical analysis,

faitly reliably

except for the family

planning operations which are part of the purposive or

intentional programme of the Directorate of Health Services.

5

However,

it appears that in no PHC or

Rural Hospital that we visited, was
there any attempt to measure the need

for medical

village,

and health services at the

block or multi-block

(rural

hospital) level.

Nor was there any systematic attempt
being made to relate the provision of
DHS medical services in the area, with

the provision of medical services
through other local, private,

voluntary

or otherwise organised institutions.

Thus the whole programme for delivery of health services
appears at this point in time, to be proceeding without
regular analysis of:
a)

the need for medical and health services in the
command area

b)

The existing local supply of such services

The main driving force for the rural

health delivery

system appear to be t argets derived from State level
demographic data, being apportioned from above.

A point that 3 or 4 medically and surgically qualified
doctors made at various rural hospitals was that nobody

at higher levels of DHS seemed to be interested in the
medical

aspects of out-patient and in-patient care.

they wished to know was the Family Planning record.

This point needs to be stressed because

there appears to be a very majpr linkage

between the number of deliveries and
family planning operations.

All

6

The Rural Hospital and PHC doctors at a number of
places told us that women who have just delivered

their babies are the most highly self-motivated cases

for Family Planning operations.

And just after

delivery is also the most convenient time- medically
speaking- to undertake tubectomies.

There is reason to believe that in most PHCs and Rural
Hospitals (RH) the lack of systemic interest in the
welfare of pregnant mothers,

the thoughtlessness of the

facilities (or lack of facilities) provided, the near

total absence of sanitation maintenance, is a great

hindrance to the increase in the number of deliveries
at the PHC or RH in comparison to what it could be.

This in turn affects Family Planning performance.

The attitudinal gap is very major,

very serious,

and

more thought must ba given in DHS to foster and support

a more need-responsive and patient-responsive approach

to rural health*

PHCs and RHs must be encouraged to

draw up their own plans Tor provision of health and

medical services and creation of facilities based on
the need in the area and their own capabilities in

attracting patients.

7

CHAPTER IV

The Concept of The Rural Hospital:
It may not be an exaggeration to say that the currently
accepted concept of the role of a Rural Hospital has been

based on the work of Dr s’.
taluka in Maharashtra.

Raj and Mabel Arole at Oamkhed

This Rural Hospital functions as

the base of an out-reaching health-cum-medical delivery
system that combines preventive and curative operations,

which tries as far as possible to upgrade a village’s*
ability to look

after its health problems on its own with

a minimum amount of outside supply of routine
services,

professional

facilities and medicines.

In the DHS concept,

a 30 bed rural hospital is expected

to cater to the referral needs of 3 or 4 PHCs for all but

the most major medical emergencies.

to cater to

Thus an RH is expected

a population of about 300,000,

after system expansion

for about 150,000.

at present,

In several cases,

PHCs are being up-graded to Rural Hospitals.
some relatively

and

In the process

serious personnel problems are in the

m ak i n g .

0 PHC staff are Zilla Parishad employees with touring
duties in the villages.

° Rural Hospitals are expected to

be headed by

Class I

medically and surgically qualified officers reporting
to the Dy.

Director of the concerned DHS circle.

(There are 8 circles covering Maharashtra State.)
0 If the Medical

Superintendent of the Rural Hospital

is asked to report to the Chief Executive Officer

and District Health Officer of the Zilla Parishad,
conflicts of professional standing are expected to

arise.

8

0 Rural

Hospital staff drawn from the District

Hospital staff have raised issues of working
hours and touring duties which are subject to

different regulations there.

Will they remain

State Government employees? or will they become
ZP employees?

0 Rural Hospital doctors say that touring duties for

doctors interfere with 24 hour availability needed
to deal with emergencies that are brought to the

ho spit al.
° Rural Hospital doctors complain that they do not

receive non-Practising Allowance like PHC doctors*

To persons from a voluntary agency these issues appear
trivial compared to the needs of rural people.

the

However,

fact that such issues arise and are discussed for

much time and with great seriousness will provide some
indicators of what is likely to happen to the health
delivery system after it

years.

has been in operation for a few

Will it be able to rise above personal injuries

and animosities to really

serve the rural people;

For example, most Rural Hospital doctors dread the

prospects of having to work under the Zilla Parishads.
Several PHC doctors have mentioned that:

- their vehicles are misused by

Taluka Panchayat

o ffi ci als-

- their controlling officers are unduly sensitive to
pressures from the Chief Executive Officers of the
Zilla Parishads and the elected representatives.

Cases of 5-6 transfers in as many years are quite

hi gh.
- they resent being put under the administrative
control of the Block Development

Officers who

usually less qualified Chan they

are.

are

9

- their powers to spend money specially, on
maintenance and sanitation are so limited that
they,

are forced to liaise repeatedly with the

Building and Communications department of the

‘Zilla Parishad to little avail.

Rural

Hospital

doctors feel that they will come under

similar pressures.

It would appear

from the above that:.

- the organisatiqnal concept of the Rural Hospital
as the 3rd tier-in a health delivery system, is not

clear to the doctors and staff at the field-level.

- the management structure of the Rural

Hospital and

its linkages with the State Government’s DHS on the

one hand and the local body

(ZP) on the other are

in need of substantial revision and greater clarity.

- the need to insulate the RH - PHC - SC system from

both the State Government and the local body structure
in some ways is essential,

to ensure stability to key

medical staff and some measure of autonomy.
The doctors view point howqver must be balanced by what one

may consider a people’s view point based on our observations
at various places!

- the levels pf sanitation at all places was appalling.
At one PHC turned RH the sewer pipes in the patients

ward were burst and choked for over 6 months.

The

disposal of operation theatre and labour room wastes •
in almost every
ward.

PHC and RH is the ground behind the

It would not be incorrect to say that sanitary

conditions are ^uch as to be criminally negligent.

10

- the lack of privacy for patients particularly in
the

Type Rural Hospital design is distressing.

there was very

little evidence both among doctors

and nurses of sufficient interest or skill at

developmental medicine.

There was very little

rapport between the doctors, nurses and their
patients,

except in some cases, on account of the

.personal qualities of the people concerned.

- there was lack of evidence of any kind of pride in
institution building, among the doctors and nurses.

If anybody spoke it was primarily about individual
target fulfillment specially about Family Planning
operations.

- there was some indications of doctors indulging in
private practice.

In summary it may

be said that it would be dangerous to

leavb rural health solely in the hands of doctors.

But

on the whole, we were extremely impressed by the motivation

displayed by all cadres of the DHS staff, considering
the personal difficulties they are being put to.

situation could be summed up as:

bothers,

”1 care;

The

but nobody else

This feeling where

so what can be done."

everyon e feels himself/herself to be part of an isolated
minority that is powerless to

function effectively with

pride and high morale, must be tackled with greater emphasis

on personnel management inputs.
At upper levels of DHS there was evidence of much sincerity,

motivation and unremitting effort.
with some

level.

But this was viewed

. cynicism and lack of enthusiasm at district

11

The relationship between the concept of the functions

of a rural hospital and the design of its facilities
is organic.

The way

a hospital is conceived to operate,

the way it is built,and the way it works and is

maintained are all integrated.

The creation of a

hospital is therefore something more than just slapping

a few buildings together under a variety of State level

schemes and programmes.
The amount of redundancy, the incompatibility of facilities,

the lack of good design and attention to detail, the lack

of a high morale, culture and identity
to a Relatively high cost rural

have all contributed

health delivery system.

We feel that it is imperative that the DHS introduce a

procedure to relate the facility

and manpower costs at

PHCs and RHs to the through-put of in-patients and out­

patients.

We make this statement although we have been

told that the effectiveness of a PHC and a RH is to be
judged inversely to its OPD and in-patient load because

it is also a preventive system.

So a low OPD and in­

patient rate can also be interpreted, under present
conditions,to indicate the efficiency of the preventive

measures being undertaken rather than the sloppiness or
indifference of the staff concerned.

We believe that the Maharashtra Government should seriously
consider a policy of rural health delivery that encourages

organisations such as medical trusts,

to undertake operation

and maintenance of PHCs and Rural Hospitals, with financial

assistance from the Government for construction and
maintenance rather than the present policy of only

Government services expansion.

be regulated by DHS.

These institutions could

Today the average cost of servicing

one OPD patient in a PHC is about Rs.15.00, not considering
the drugs and-medicines he/she reqeives.

?>

12

CHAPTER V

Facilities for a Primary Health Centre:
A PHC presently

serves a population of about 100,000.

After the PHC structure is expanded the population served
mould drop to

about 30,000 in tribal areas and 60,000 in

non-tribal areas.
In the typical command area of a present PHC, one could

therefore expect about 4000 pregnancies and correspondingly
about 3600 births per year.

Our observation is that good

PHCs are covering between 10-15% of the possible deliveries

in their command area.

Perhaps the figure should be at

least 40-50%.

A normal delivery

for a rural mother requires as average

of 3 in-patient days.

If we expect a PHC to cater to

1800

births in a year it should have between 15-20 beds for
maternity cases alone, with a corresponding nursing pattern.

Of course, for a variety of reasons only a few PHCs have
reached a figure of this magnitude.

We suggest that the

PHC pattern must be made sufficiently

flexible to expand

properly working PHCs for maternity cases upto 15-20 beds.

If a PHC conducts about 20-30 deliveries per month they
get about 15-20 tubectomy cases.

Each tubectomy patient

spends an average of 7-10 days in hospital.

Hence it should

be necessary tt) provide twice the number of maternity beds

for female family planning operations-

If a PHC is expected to deal with deliveries, pregnancy
terminations,

tubectomies and other family planning

operations on its own, without referral to rural

hospitals

except in major emergencies,then it is necessary to

13

consider the following:

- there must be an incubator for premature babies.
- there must be a septic ward,

specially for

deliveries that go bad at village level and come

at the last minute to the

PHC.

- Labour room and operation theatre facilities have

to be substantially re-designed as there are many
defects of design and construction which make

caesarian operations hazardous-

However,

if the PHC is not expected to deal with such

matters routinely, then the corresponding facilities at

the Rural Hospital have to be enhanced.

The present RH

Type design has no provision for incubators/septic wards.

In all cases we have found that the capacities of the
sanitary blocks and sanitation systems were grossly

inadequate for the load.

Wherever the Medical Officer

is good, there is a rapid increase in the patient load
and the doctors and nurses accomodate the patients on the
floor and verandah.

But sanitation facilities are not

similarly elastic and they rapidly go out of order.

Then

patients and their relatives - where there is not enough
space outside • are found to use the grounds within the

PHC compound under the cover of night.

The problem is

compounded by the shortage of water we observed at
several

PHCs.

14

CHAPTER VI

Facilities Required in a Rural Ho spit al:

If an RH is expected to cater to the referral needs of

4 PHCs and if it is expected to serve as the headquarters
and supply base for preventive work in

PHCs,

sub-centres

and villages then it must have the following facilities:
A.

OPP Nodule:

1.

Out Patinet’s Waiting Area with Instructional

F acili tie s.

B.

C.

2.

Out-Patients segregated Toilet Blocks

3.

Case Paper Unit

4.

Nale/General

5.

Female/nnte-Natal Examination Room

6o

Paediatric/lmmunisation Unit

7.

Social Workers/Supplement al

Examination Room

Nutrition Unit

Diagnostic Services Nodule :

1.

Bio-medical statistics records section

2.

Laboratory

3.

X-Ray

4.

Tubercolosis Detection and Control Unit

Facility

5.

> Nal ari a/Fi 1 ari a detection and control unit

6.

Post-Nor tem Room

Drugs and Dispensing Nodule:
1.

Bulk Drugs Store

2.

Surgicals Store

3.

Sanitation Chemicals,

4.

Linen Storage and Fumigation Unit

5^

Break-bulk,

6.

Injections and Dressings Unit

7.

Store Records and Dispensing Issues Record Room

8.

Cold Store:

Drugs,

Poisons Store

compounding and Dispensing Room

Blood/Plasma/Vaccinag

15

D.

In-Patients Module:

1.

Maternity Ward

2.

Premature and Endangered Babies Ward

3.

Female Family

4.

Septic Cases Ward (Female)

5.

Male General Ward

6,

Male Infectious Diseases Ward (attached toilet bath)

7O

Female Patients Toilet Block

8.

Male Patients Toilet Block

9.

In-Patients Relatives Male-Female Toilet Block

10*

Bed-pan/kidney tray washing unit

11.

Clothes washing and drying area

12.

Babies Clothes/Nappies Washing/drying area

13.

Relatives Sleeping Area

14.

Cooking facility with Ration/Provision and Utensil

Planning Cases Ward

Store and Firewood store
voluntary

(attached toilet bath)

(to be operated by a

agency or charitable trust such as Lions

Club )

15.

All religion worship place

16.

Infected clothes,

17.

Dump for used bottles,

bandages,

cotton incinerator

salines,

drips,

etc for

r ecy cling

E.

18.

Pharmacists Shop

19.

Mattress Fumigation Unit

Operation Theatre and Labour Room Module:

1.

Labour Preparation Room

2.

Surgicals Sterilisation Room

3.

Labour Room

4.

Pre-Operative/Post Operative room

5.

Operation Theatre

6.

Incinerator for operation theatre, labour room

and post-mortem wastes
7.

Surgical cleaning facility

16

Fo

Staff Services Module:


Changing Room:

Lockers:

Toilets:

Bath i

Male/Fern ale

G.

H.

2.

Duty Room:

Nurses

3,

Duty Room:

Medical Officers

4O

Library

5<>

Tea-Club Room/Con ference Room

^Health Extension Services Module:

1.

Drawing-cum-setting up studio

2<.

Duplicati ng/Xeroxing room

3.

Typing

Sanitation and Maintenance

Engineering Unit:

1.

Maintenance Materials Store

2.

Sanitation Engineer’s Office

3.

Staff Room

4.

Workshop for Light Repairs,

Carpentry,

Electrical,

Mechanical
I•

*

Administration Module:
*1.

Health Services Operations Monitoring Room

2.

Record Room

3.

Clerical Room

4.

Administrative Officers Room

These

facilities only if the rural hospital is considered

a seriice facility

and not

J.

for the rural hospital delivery system

as a purely medical referral facility.

Vehicle Module:
1.

Garage for Ambulance

2.

Garage for Jeeps

3.

Motorcycle/cycle Parking lot

17

K•

L.

Re si donti al Module:
Superintendent’s Residence

1.

Medical

2.

Medical Officers Quarters

3.

Staff Nurses Quarters

4.

Class IV Employees Quarters

Offsites Module:

1.

Water Supply

2.

Sewerage

3*

Electricals

4.

Roads

5,

Horticulture

6.

Compound Wall

For each of the individual

it is possible to
creation

(e.g.

facilities in a given module

specify certain bases for

icapacity

in an OPD based on queuing theory) and

certain linkages

(e.g.

variation in sewerage with

intensity of OPD and IPD).

On the basis of such analysis it would be useful to

specify the capacities of:

a) the initial or basic module
b) the incremental module

18

CHAPTER VII

Co st

Analysis and Optimisation For a Rural Health

Delivery

System:

When we were invited by the Government of Maharashtra to

visit Primary Health Centres and Rural Hospitals, our
brief was to produce low-cost designs for PHCs and RHs -

primarily the capital cost component.

However when we look at cost optimisation or cost
minimisation a number of issues arise:

1.

The overall objective might be framed as follows:
’’The greatest benefit to the most people at the

minimum cost per patient.”

2.

This objective implies:
- quantification of facilitias and benefits
to be given to people
- estimation of throughput or capacity

handling ability of the facility
- appropriate design of a ’’line-balanced”
facility without bottlenecks or unnecessary

redundancy

- suitable specification of building construction
materials in relation to local availability
- rapidity in system creation and deployment

- maintenance and continuous incremental
expansion of the system deployed

19

To explain those ideas,

a feu/ examples:

- a PHC or Rural Hospital must have a modular
concept for its OPO.

One examination room can

cater to an OPD of about 1800 patients per month.

For OPD of more than this, the examination rooms
and related facilities such as:

0

case paper issue counters

°-

injection and dressing room

0

drug dispensing counters

0

patients waiting areas

?

out-patients toilet block

°

immunisation unit

°

laboratory

need to be correspondingly expanded in a modular

fashion.
- the general location of a PHC or RH in relation to

the villages of the command area,

as well as the

specific site location of the building in the
particular village or town are of great importance

in determining the size of the OPD and to some
extent of the In-Patient load.

For example one PHC was perched on top of a hill

300 feet above the village.

It had a very low

OPD and an even lower In-Patient, which may have

resulted in a 20% capacity utilisation.

- the In-Patient facilities are
of the total
cost.

PHC as well as Rural

Hospital buildings

Yet several PHCs and RHs were hardly using

50% of the
days).

a very major component

In-Patient capacities

(measured in bed-

Further inquiry showed that the capacity

utilisation was low because of a number of other

related factors which were bottlenecks.

e.g.

unusable

operation theatres or insufficient labour room

capacity, or lack of qualified doctors, or shortage
of staff nurses.

20

- in several

locations it is not feasible to use the

proposed type plan for Rural

Hospitals except at a

very high cost in land development.

- in most upgraded medical centres there is a major
problem of redundant facilities.

few of the Rural

We found very

Family Planning Welfare Centre

operation theatres being used because the PHCs

already had an operation theatre.

- on the other hand we found operation theatre
facilities being put to very sparing use because
of lack of other balancing facilities and personnel.

In one rural hospital because blood storage is not

provided and because there are no

facilities to cater

to premature babies, many patients who could have

been - and should have been treated - were referred

to the district hospitals or to private doctors.

- in one very

distant rural hospital

location, we

found that all the items of furniture (e.g.

desks

for medical officers) had been shipped in from

Bombay.

Perhaps the cost of transport isolf would

equal the cost of furniture.

- in the matter of common building materials such as

bricks we found in Some cases very

70 kilometres although bricks

long leads e.g.

(possibly not of

similar quality) were being made within 5 kilometres.
- we found that the construction times for almost .all

PHCs and RHs were abnormally long.
reason was the very

Part of the

long procedure of approval,

which is reproduced in the npxt chapter-of thie note.

21

The cost of a building may be related to:

- cost of building materials

(about 65% of

total cost)
- cost of labour

(about 25%)

- cost of supervision and management
However,

(about 10%)

because of an absence of an opportunity

several decisions that might

cost to time lost,

have resulted in a building becoming useful a few
years earlier than it^ actually took, were not taken.
we found some lack of integration between the

building design and the equipments ordered for a
rural hospital

we found that many operation theatres were defectively

designed - to the point of criminal negligence.

We

found two operation theatres with no exhaust fan.

We

found all operation theatres with no air intake

f aciliti es.

Thus,

as soon as the exhaust fan begins

operating in a substantially closed theatre a vaccuum

is created which exerts a pressure on the door causing
it to open inwards.

The only air inlet in many/cases

was the gap between the door and floor.

Air that is

introduced in this manner is likely to have a high
germ count.

In some cases we found the operation

theatre next to the general entrance to the facility,
instead of being protected by a pre-operation

preparation room.
we found many operation theatres did not have
separate and protected water supply.

at one rural hospital we found the water supply to
the in-patient ward entering a cement concrete

ground level storage reservoir which was surrounded
by leaking sewerage’ pipps and adjacent to the toilet
b lock.

COMMUNITY HFA! th rn .

34/

4?/‘.

Floc

;

m

.

A

22

- at all places we found broken and unrepaired
sanitation facilities.

had unsatisfactory

Even operation theatres

levels of cleanliness.

Cost optimisation has therefore to be considered as
f o Hows:
1.

Effectiveness of facilities to provide the
services desired in the long term.

2.

Throughput of

- outpatients
- in-patients
- out-reach services in the command area

3.

Contingency levels to be maintained for epidemics

and emergencies.
4.

Improvement in morbidity and mortality rates in
the command area.

It is recommended that such detailed system studies be
undertaken for a few PHCs and RHs in each DHS circle in
order to arrive at appropriate methodologies for assessing

the Levels of services to be reached and the capital and

recurring costs to be incurred.

23

CHAPTER VIII
Recommendation^

For RH/PHC Management Organisation:

PHCs and Rural Hospitals must be given the freedom to
develop their own identities.*

These identities have to

be developed:

A.

Before the PHC/RH is constructed:by preparation of
a full-scale Feasibility Report that will
- survey the need for health and medical services
in the command area

- take into account private,

voluntary and

medical educational health facilities in the

are a

- identify the key tasks of the PHC/RH for the
next 5-10 years

B•

While the PHC/RH is being Constructed: by
- creating a PHC/RH Construction Committee with

complete supervisory powers
- providing the PHC/RH Construction Committee with

a Bank Account and a Letter of Credit for cost
inflations on Capital Works as to ensure that
the work is not delayed on account of cash-flow

problems

— separating the budgets for building materials

and for construction labour in both physical
as well as value terms and separately monitoring

them

24

- subjecting procured building materials to
quality control checks? through empanelled
architects?

civil engineers and structural

engineers

“ specifically naming the arc hit ects,structural
engineers and civil engineers who have been

responsible for construction and design on a

plaque in the building
- involving a local mason,

plumber and carpenter

in the labour contract, with an understanding

that they will also do the maintenance later on,

on a rate contract basis.

This would create a

stake in doing a good job and doing it at a
low cost.

Co

While the PHC/RH is in Operation:

by

- creating an autonomous Management Committee with
local and outside members serving a term of 5

years.

These members to have as far as possible

suitable qualifications/experience

- empanelling private doctors and encouraging them
to use under-utilised facilities such as operation

theatres,

X-Ray facilities,

laboratories, on

payment of a concessional rate.

This money should

be received by the Management Committee and 50%

disbursed to the concerned hospital staff

- making oho officer the Chief Executive of the
Hospital/PHC,

serving under the Management

Committee, with powers to spend funds on
sanitation and maintenance as required

25

- making one of the primary

functions of the

Chief Executive the responsibility for sanitary
condi tions

- instituting a system of Visitors in various
medicalp

health disciplines (including sanitation)

to inspect the hospital’s various departments,
examine the functioning and operation and report

on the conditions prevailing to OHS.

- providing the Management Committee of a RH/PHC
with the right to accept or reject staff

proposed for permanent transfer#

(Staff not

being accepted on transfer should revert to a
circle level pool

for PHCs and State-level

pool for RHs.)

- providing for incremental expansion of PHC3/RH3
on a modular basis as they achieve full utilisation

of out patient and in-patient throughput

capacitiesautomatically

This expansion fund could be

linked to the funds collected from

patients by an appropriate multiplier factor.
E.g.

Every Rs.1.00 collected from an in-patient

above 70% capacity utilisation mill entitle the

PHC/RH to Rs.10.00 for capital expenditure on

In-Patient facilities.

26

CHAPTER IX

Procedures and Recommendations for RH/PHC Design, Construction
and Commissioning

Existing Procedure for Constructing a Primary Health Centre:

1.

Proposals invided from Zilla Parishads for location of

PHCs by DHSo
- Resolution passed by

General

Body Meeting of the

ZP

- Sanction provided by the District Planning Board

2<>

Proposals are forwarded to the Secretary,
Department by DHS.

Public Health

(No Preliminary Feasibility Report

made at this stage by DHS.)
3.

Secretary,

PHD issues a Government Resolution (GR) for

location of PHCs after taking Cabinet approval with

concurrence of the Finance Department and Planning
Department at the Mantralaya.
4.

On receipt of the GR the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
in consultation with the District

Health Office (DHO)

fix site and location of the PHC and request District

Collector for transfer of land or NA (non-agricultural)
permission.

The CEO of the ZP can purchase land on a

resolution of the Health Committee.

The State

Government does not reimburse cost of land.

5.

The DHO takes over land on behalf of the ZP.

6.

CEO and DHO request the Executive
plans and estimates.

Engineer to prepare

27

7.

The Executive Engineer requests the Deputy Executive
Engineer to prepare Plans and Estimates.

80

Technical scrutiny is done by the Executive Engineer

and the Plans and Estimates are s0nt to Government
through the DHO and DHS.
9.

Government (Secretary - PHD) issues a GR of

Administrative Approval

(AA) with the sanction of

grants for Building Construction.

10.

The DHS consolidates Government

AAS for all PHCs

and Rural Hospitals in a District and places the Grant
at the disposal of the DHO.

11.

The DHO in turn places the grant at the disposal of

the

Executive Engineer to be disbursed by the Chief

Accounts and ,Zin an ci al officer (Thereafter the DHO
has no control on the execution of construction works)

12*

In case of escalation above 10% of the AA cost

sanctioned the entire process has to be repeated.

13.

The Executive Engineer is responsible for building,

electrification, water supply,
approach roadso

14.

sewerage,

fencing and

These are all part of the AA.

Agency bills for construction contracts are scrutinised
against the Measurement Book maintained by the Jr.
Engineer (at tehsil level) and checked by the Dy.

Executive Engineer.

Payment is made after the Executive

Engineer forwards the Bills to the Chief Accounts and

Finance Officer.

28

15©

On completion, a certificate by the Executive
Engineer is provided and the building is handed

over to the DHO.

(it may be observed that

structural engineering and architectural

supervision is done only on buildings costing
more than Rs© 50 lakhs.)

16©

DHO may refuse to take possession but otherwise
has no control on the release of the Building

Completion Certificate.

17.

Running-in of a new building is done out of the
statutory 3% maintenance grant placed at the

disposal of the Executive Engineer of the Zilla

Pari shad for all buildings in his care.
(There is no control on the use of the maintenance

grant sanctioned for the PHC being actually used

The Executive Engineer uses the

for this purpose.

entire grant according to his own priorities.)

Comments on this Procedure:

1.

It will be apparent that no where in this procedure
is a Preliminary

Feasibility Project Report prepared

for construction of a PHC or a RH making an integrated

evaluation of site, communications^ medical problems
to be tackled,
2.

etc.

Departmental execution of PHC/RH buildings by the
Executive Engineer of the District Panchayat is not

desirable.
3.

A possible alternative procedure could be as follows:
(a)

an apex State Level Hospital Construction and

29

Capital Maintenance Organisation should

consolidate,

approve and provide plans,

designs,

structural engineering and estimates.
(b)

at circle-level

(8 circles) there should be

appointed a PHC/RH Architect and Structural
Engineering Firm on a long-term basis

which

would provide detailed supervision for construction

and future expansions.

They

should be charged

with long-term storage of construction drawings

of each building.

Design proposals to originate at circle level and

receive approval at Staterlevel.
(c)

at district level DHO and Executive Engineer

should be part of a Hospital

Building Supervision

committee which will fix turnkey construction
engineers and contractors for sub-centres,

PHCs

and RHs as per Design and Plans prepared by the
Circle Architect and Structural Engineers.
(d)

Departmental execution by Dy

Executive Engineer

at Taluka level should only be resorted to in

case of failure of contractor.
(e)

At RH and subordinate PHC level a committee to
supervise and make payments to engineers and
contractors according to progress of work.

This committee to include as chairman,

the Doctor

in charge of the RH.

The RH/PHC Doctor-in-charge to draw up the

Preliminary

Feasibility Report that provides

the design brief to the Circle Architects and

Structural Engineers*



30

Suggested Procedure for Construction of RHs/PHCq:

1.

Doctor in charge of RH and subordinate PHCs and SCs
to draw up the Preliminary

Feasibility Report for each

facility providing:

a)

Projection of OPD

b) Projection of Maternity Admissions

c)

Projection of FP cases

d)

Projection of other in-patient admissions

a) Projection rural health care services.

e.g.

immunisations, tubercolosis detection and

control,

etc.

A budget of Rs.20,000 for PHCs and Rs.60,000 for RHs

may be made for preparation of such Reports.

2.

Capacity of various Modules to be fixed by the Circle
Architects/Engineers based on approved PFR estimates.
Sanitary capacities to be specifically oversized.

3.

Plans and Designs and Estimates prepared by Circle
Architects/Engineers to be approved at State-Level
by the Hospital Designs and Construction Approvals

Organisation for RHs/PHCs.

4.

Approved Plans and Designs to be

forwarded to DHO and

EE of concerned District for Supervision of Construction

and fixing of Construction Engineers and Contractors*

6.

10% Cost Overruns to be sanctioned by District
Construction Supervision Committee.

20% cost overruns

by Circle and upto 40% cost overruns by State-level
Hospital Designs and Construction approvals

Organisation.

Construction schedules need to be strictly monitored
at the Circle level and expedited if necessary.

31

Suggested Procedure for Maintenance,
1O

Upgrading, Expansion:

The Maintenance Budget of a PHC should be fixed at 8%

For a RH it should be 10% of Capital

of Capital Cost*.

Cost •



The Maintenance Budget to be distributed as follows:

for PHCs

a) With Circle Office
b) With Dist.

Committee

c) With RH/PHC Committee

for RHs

1%

1.5%

1.5%

2.0%

3.5%

6.5%

6.0%

10.0%

Certain segments of expenditure should be reserved as

fo Hows:
To RH/PHC

To Diet.

To Circle

a) Sanitary Maint enance

100%

-



b) Building Repairs

6 0%

40%

-

c) Electricals

20%

80%

d) Hospital Equipment

10%

30%

70%

e) Furniture

100%

-

-

f)

80%

10%

10%

Horticulture

These allocations are arbitrary and ill ustrative of what
actually may be necessary,

after proper analysis is done

of maintenance needs.

4.

The accumulation of Repairs and Maintenance grant allotments

at the Circle level will ensure that the maintenance funds
are spent on hospitals needing substantial maintenance

every few years.

Media
341.pdf

Position: 3755 (2 views)