887 Primary Health Centres under CCTV lens in Telangana

The State Health Minister, T Harish Rao inaugurated the Telangana PHCs Monitoring Hub and a Command Centre at Directorate of Public Health (DPH), Koti. 

Hyderabad: For the first time in the country, 887 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in rural and Urban PHCs (UPHCs) across Telangana are now linked through ‘Telangana PHCs Monitoring Hub’, which is a network of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTVs) that will enable health authorities in Hyderabad to remotely monitor the flow of work at PHCs in real-time.

On Friday, the State Health Minister, T Harish Rao inaugurated the Telangana PHCs Monitoring Hub and a Command Centre at Directorate of Public Health (DPH), Koti.

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The PHC monitoring hub has multipurpose utility, as three major Health Departments including Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare (CHFW), DPH and Telangana State Medical Services and Infrastructure (TSMSIDC), can now monitor, pass instructions and conduct skill upgradation programmes remotely from Hyderabad.

“Apart from monitoring, the PHCs hub will be very useful in coordination whenever there is an outbreak of diseases at the local level. The monitoring hub is two-way video enabled, which means the healthcare workers at the PHCs and at the command centre in Hyderabad will be able to participate in a video conference,” Minister said.

The PHC monitoring hub will enable better monitoring, which will have a positive impact on healthcare facilities for poor patients at the PHCs. Moreover, the CCTVs will act as a deterrent and bring in a lot of transparency into the healthcare services at the PHC level, the Minister said.

In the near future, the health department will also utilise the PHC monitoring hub to provide specialist services to patients at the PHC level. “In case the doctor at the PHC feels that the patient needs to consult a specialist doctor at the nearby District Hospital or a tertiary hospital in Hyderabad then through the video conference feature patients at PHCs can remotely consult with the specialist doctor,” DPH, Dr G Srinivasa Rao explained.

Telangana sanctions Rs 417 crore towards revamp

The State government has sanctioned Rs 417 crore towards complete revamp and establishment of new Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) sub-centres in Telangana.

To ensure the medical infrastructure is upgraded from ground-up in rural areas, the Telangana government will establish 43 new PHCs with a cost of Rs 67 crore and take up repairs and in some cases expand by adding additional rooms in 372 PHCs with a cost of Rs 43 crore.

To ensure ANMs, the village-level female healthcare workers have access to proper facilities while discharging their duties, the Telangana government in the coming months will also establish 1239 ANM sub-centres with a cost of a staggering Rs 247 crore, with each facility being established with a cost of Rs 20 lakh.

The State government has also sanctioned Rs 60 crore to either upgrade or take-up repairs of existing 1497 ANM sub-centres in Telangana. Each facility has been allocated Rs 4 lakh to take up repairs or add more rooms in the ANM sub-centres.

“These works are vital to ensure quality health care services are available in rural areas of Telangana. Over Rs 400 crore has been sanctioned by the State government just to ensure new PHCs and ANM sub-centres are constructed and repairs are taken-up wherever it is necessary. We are aiming to complete the works in the coming months,” State Health Minister, T Harish Rao on Friday, said.