120 cr being spent on upgraded State Cancer Institute/Jehlum Post News/Srinagar/April 1, 2015/ Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today issued clear-cut directions for strictly implementing the ban imposed on the private practice of doctors working in Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar.

He said SKIMS doctors have to choose either between keeping their job or private practice and any violation of the directions will be viewed seriously.The Chief Minister issued these instructions while chairing the Governing Body meeting of SKIMS, Wednesday .Minister for Finance, Dr. Haseeb A. Drabu, Minister for Health & Medical Education, Ch. Lal Singh, Minister of State for H&ME, Asiya Naqash, Chief Secretary, Iqbal Khanday, Principal Secretary, Planning & Development, B. R. Sharma, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, B. B. Vyas, Commissioner/Secretary. H&ME, Shantmanu, Director SKIMS, Dr. Shaukat Zargar, and other Members of the Governing Body attended the meeting.Emphasizing the need to strictly monitor the ban on private practice of SKIMS doctors, Mufti Sayeed asked the management to bring the institute at par with the quality provided by AIIMS in New Delhi. “SKIMS has to make concerted efforts to become an equivalent institute of excellence in the country,” he stated.While emphasizing the need for enhancing scope and facilities at SKIMS for providing super-specialty healthcare to the people, the Chief Minister said the quality of services at the institute has to improve so that people don’t have to go for referrals to New Delhi, Chandigarh or any other place outside the State for advanced treatment. “Once patients are referred to institutes outside the State, they have to spend a lot of money on their treatment which they cannot afford,” he said and added that the institute will have to regulate referrals so that its performance as a premier institute in tertiary healthcare is not affected. He also stressed on the need to improve and upgrade delivery of healthcare service at sub-district and district-level hospitals in the State.

Stressing on the need to make optimal use of infrastructure available at SKIMS, Mufti Sayeed called for periodical self-appraisals to assess the performance of the institute in terms of patient care.Briefing the Chief Minister about upgrading infrastructure at the institute, Dr. Showkat Zargar said the Regional Cancer Centre at SKIMS, on the basis of its suitability and eligibility, has been upgraded to the level of State Cancer Institute and an amount of 120 crore as grant-in-aid has been approved by the Central Government. Rupees 47 crore has been sanctioned as first instalment that will be released to the institute shortly. The money will be utilized for procurement of PET Scan and Cyclotron machine which will improve quality of healthcare at the Centre, he said.Informing the Chief Minister about the steps taken to provide better patient-care at 685-bedded SKIMS, the Director said over 8 lakh patients were treated at SKIMS in 2014 and between 2012 and 2014, 9 new departments have been added at the institute. “The bed capacity of ICUs has also been increased while as 13,856 major surgeries have been performed in 2014, as compared to 12,242 in 2010,” he said and added that around 2.8 crore laboratory investigations and 29,593 MRI and CT scans were performed at SKIMS last year.Besides taking several decisions to improve quality of healthcare facilities at SKIMS, the Governing Body also approved increase in intake capacity of SKIMS Nursing College from 50 to 100 seats and installation of MRI machines on PPP mode on the same lines which has been done in case of Bone & Joint Hospital, Burzalla.

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