PNS|Vijayawada
The State government under the leadership of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has been providing good health services to the people with the best standards resulting in getting National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) accreditation for two hospitals in the state. The accreditation was awarded to Government Mental Care Hospital and Government Chest Diseases Hospital for their best performance.
The Government Hospital for Mental Care, Visakhapatnam was established in 1860 and since 1950 it is a 300-bed teaching hospital attached to Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam. After bifurcation, this is the only Psychiatry hospital catering to the needs of the people belonging to all 13 districts in the state and neighbouring states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. The officials stated that as per the instructions of the Principal Secretary, Department of Health, Medical & Family Welfare, Andhra Pradesh, and Director of Medical Education, Andhra Pradesh as a part of the implementation of Quality in patient care in Government Hospitals, we had applied for NABH Accreditation in the year February-2018 we have submitted application and conducted Pre-Assessment, February-2019 we attended Final assessment. Due to COVID-19, we were unable to continue the implementation of NABH standards.
In June 2023 underwent verification assessment and submitted a closure report of non-compliances raised. Later in August 2023 NABH Accreditation Committee issued NABH Accreditation to the Government Hospital for Mental Care, Visakhapatnam from 10-08-2023 to 09-08-2027. They stated that the Government Hospital for Mental Care, Visakhapatnam is the Accredited First Government Hospital in Andhra Pradesh state without any remarks by the NABH Board and the First Government Hospital with a Psychiatry specialty in India.
Government TB and Chest Hospital is also called as Government Hospital for Chest and Communicable Diseases is located at Pedda Waltair in Visakhapatnam It is one of the important government hospitals in the City and was started in the year 1961.
The officials explained that NABH is a division of the Quality Council of India (QCI). It is set up to accredit hospitals, health care centers, blood donation centers, AYUSH hospitals, and health care units operating at various levels across the country based on quality standards. This section has about 10 chapters, 100 standards and works with 503 objectives. The hospitals apply to the board for this accreditation.
Accreditation is granted to the hospitals after a thorough examination of the criteria given by the Center and confirmation of compliance with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). The accreditation period is three years.
Health Minister Vidadala Rajani said that the state government has taken steps to ensure that all teaching hospitals, district hospitals, area hospitals, PHC, UPHC, CHS, and VHC have National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) in the state. She said that CM YS Jagan has set goals for the officials to provide health services to the people with the best standards many times. The minister said that the efforts of CM Jagan yielded good results with NABH accreditation to two government hospitals and hoped to get more accreditations in the future.
