Government hospitals deliver poor grades!

KOCHI: Though the state flaunts its world-renowned public healthcare system and lures thousands of patients from across the world, the pregnant women in Kerala are giving the government hospitals here a cold shoulder. As per the latest statistics, as many as 70 per cent of mothers turn their back on government hospitals when it comes to choosing a hospital to deliver. Out of the 5,01,514 deliveries that recorded in the state in 2011-12, only 1,43,653 (28.64 per cent) were taken place in government hospitals.This has happnened when the government hospitals here offer several provisions including reduced charges, free medicines and even incentives in the form of cash to mothers from BPL families. And notably, if one goes for the maternity services offered by the private hospitals here, he/she will have to pay through the nose for it.  In fact, districts that have successfully executed various state as well as Centre-sponsored public healthcare projects, have performed poorly in terms of the number of deliveries recorded in government hospitals. Ernakulam district, which spent the maximum amount of funds allotted via the National Rural Health Mission, registered only 19 per cent of total deliveries in its government hospitals.A recurring pattern though is that districts with medical colleges have much higher proportion of births in government hospitals.Thiruvananthapuram, with two government medical colleges, is the only district recorded more deliveries in the public sector than in the private. The capital city registered a percentage of 57.35 deliveries in the public sector. Alappuzha with 49.49 per cent, Kozhikode with 41.83 and Kottayam with 32.19 per cent (all districts with government medical colleges) fared reasonably when compared to their counterparts without this facility.But Thrissur is an exception with just 17.04 per cent of its mothers approaching the public health sector in spite of the district having a medical college.Kasargod has the lowest number of deliveries in government hospitals with just 10.35 per cent followed by Malappuram with 16.75.“There is ageneration notion that the healthcare services rendered by the government hospitals are of a lower standard. Though the technical expertise and care is much better in government hospitals as compared to the private ones, the ambience prevailing here turns people away,” said Rajeev Sadanandan, Principal Secretary of the Department of Health and Family Welfare Government of Kerala. “Crowded rooms, mosaic floors and lack of privacy often forces mothers opt for private hospitals. We are working on these issues and there are some positive results in hospitals where we have experimented certain fresh ideas. We are also planning to invest more in the maternal and child healthcare,” he added.