New Delhi: With a view to curb the shortage of medicines in Delhi government hospitals, the Aam Aadmi Part (AAP) dispensation has allowed some major hospitals to purchase medicines and consumables on their own.
The decision comes two months after a report was presented to the chief minister that said that less than 50 per cent of medicines were available at several government hospitals.
The AAP government had also last year started a ‘free medicine’ scheme under which it vowed to provide all essential medicines in government hospitals. However, there have been several complaints of shortage in the last one year with people forced to buy expensive medicines from outside.
Now, in an order issued on Wednesday, the government said “bulk supply of medicines and consumables commonly used in all hospitals may be procured through open tenders by the CPA (Central Procurement Agency). Hospitals with more than 500 beds are allowed to do parallel tendering for procuring all medicines, consumables, and equipment”.
Confirming this, a senior health official said that the government plans to study the impacts from this directive later. “We will see how this goes. CPA is not able to deliver 100 per cent stock. So, we have asked the hospitals which have more than 500 beds to purchase the medicines from outside,” the official said.
The move covers major Delhi government hospitals like Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur, (GTB), among others. Autonomous hospitals under the Delhi government like Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, and Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya, have also been asked to procure common drugs, consumables, and equipment through the CPA.
“For specialised medicines and specialised consumables and equipment, procurement shall be done by the autonomous institutions,” the order read. The heads of the hospitals with more than 500 beds have also been given the power to procure medical equipment that costs up to Rs 50 lakh per unit on their own.
