The Tamil Nadu government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Quality Council of India (QCI) to attain accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Professionals (NABH) for 12 government hospitals in the state.

The Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project, a Department of Health and Family Welfare, is now engaged in upgradation work for achieving the required standards set by the board to realize the long cherished dream, according to Dr D Gurusamy, chief executive officer of the TNHSP.

The hospitals are in Erode, Namakkal, Cuddalore, Pudukottai, Tirupur, Padmanabhapuram, Manaparai, Usilampatti, Tambaram, Aruppukotai, Sholingar and Hosur. Among these, are some district hospitals and others are Taluk hospitals.

"In the case of expertise and infrastructure the hospitals are rated high but they need to ensure quality of infrastructure and service delivery. There will be periodical visits of the Board members who will evaluate the functioning of these healthcare institutes. If the officials of the accrediting body find anomalies, they would be corrected soon. For this, a non-recurrent expenditure of Rs 12 crore was sanctioned", he said.

As per the instruction of the Board, the TNHSP will give training to the medical and Para-medical staff of these hospitals. Facilities, manpower and infrastructure need to be upgraded and nine months training and upgradation programmes are in the agenda, which is going to be implemented in a phased manner, Dr Gurusamy told Pharmabiz.

For upgrading the infrastructure, the hospitals have been given their choices, but whatever the lacuna would be set right in another five months time. Any hospital in India that is accredited will be assured of the same patient safety, processes and procedures of any hospital in the developed world, Dr. Gurusamy said.

The CEO said one nodal officer would be appointed for each district-where the hospitals are located-who will look after the process of improving standards. The standards of NABH, based on which accreditation is granted to Indian hospitals, will now be upgraded to international norms.

He added that the World Bank has approved the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Projects, and a total of Rs 600 crore have been allocated for various health projects in the state. The projects are being implemented in a period of five years from 2005.

"The main goal of the project is to improve the health outcomes of the people of the state, especially the poor and the disadvantaged. It has been proposed to take up the construction of maternity wards, inpatient and outpatient blocks, operation theatres, intensive care units etc in the district and Taluk hospitals. Modern equipment like haemo-dialysis machines, ventilators, ICU equipments, X-Ray machines, Ultra Sonogram machines etc. would be provided in these hospitals", he added.