Corp has begun efforts to improve the healthcare
Amid criticism that it struggles to keep the city clean and ensure hygiene, the Coimbatore Corporation has begun efforts to improve the healthcare delivery system in the urban health centres. Over the last three months, the Corporation has been clearing through its Council proposals to modernise operation theatres, purchase latest equipment and construct new buildings at the health centres.The Corporation has a Rs. 50-lakh plan for improvements to a more than 50 years old maternity centre. The civic body had also planned to purchase colour Doppler scan machines for four urban health centres – one in each of the four Corporation zones. Each equipment costs Rs. 11 lakh. Therefore, the Council’s Standing Committee on Health decided to buy two equipment now, one each for R.K. Bai Urban Health Centre (West Zone) and V.V.M. Urban Health Centre (South Zone).The purchase of modern scan and other equipment is part of the Rs. 4 crore proposal of the civic body for improvements to 20 urban health centres. The funds for Seethalakshmi Maternity Centre, established in 1944, will be used for a staff quarters, additional buildings and beds, a ward for infants and modernisation of the operation theatre. Other plans include a blood bank and specialist doctors.Explaining the tasks for the Corporation’s health centres, official sources say that each centre serves 50,000 people. It may be up to 60,000 in some areas such as Ganapathy. Each centre has a dispensary. The patient inflow is 50 to 100 a day. The number varies with the type of service taken up on a day. On out-patient days, the inflow is 60 to 100. Ante-natal days witness a high inflow, sometimes even beyond 100. Surgeries are done on Monday and immunisation on Wednesday. Post-natal review is on Friday. Screening of students in schools is done on Thursday as part of an outreach programme.
As for outreach, one multi-purpose health worker has to cover 5,000 to 10,000 people in two months. A tour programme has to be drawn up and 200 to 300 people should be covered on a day. There is door-to-door enumeration of male and female population, pregnant women, cases of past pregnancies and current cases of those who have undergone family planning surgeries. Awareness on family planning is also done and contraceptives or condoms distributed.Smear samples are taken from people suffering from fever to find out whether these are cases of dengue, malaria or other ailments. Forty-eight health-related works are carried out by the health machinery of the Corporation, the sources say. If this system functions well, people need not even go to private hospitals, the sources claim.
