The Orissa High Court has directed the doctors of Sriram Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH), State’s premiere government-run healthcare institute at Cuttack city, to prescribe generic medicines in hospital writing pads if free drugs are not available in Niramaya free distribution counters.
A Division Bench comprising Justice S.K. Sahoo and Justice V. Narasingh taking note of unavailability of free drugs at hospital counters asked the authorities to streamline the distribution of free drugs with adequate stock while suggesting that “doctors must prescribe generic medicines in the hospital writing pads not in plain papers”.
The High Court took cognizance of a report in a vernacular daily and passed an order in this regard yesterday. The report alleged that at the Niramaya Centre of SCBMCH, Cuttack, most of the essential medicines are not being made available for which the patients are constrained to purchase the same from outside after waiting for hours together under sun and rain.
Niramaya Scheme is a free medicine distribution programme which is aimed at providing essential medications to patients in Government hospitals.
Most of the doctors are prescribing medicines in plain papers of some outside companies which are not available in Niramaya Centre and in some cases, the patients are being compelled to purchase the same spending huge amount and in other cases, they are unable to do so because of their financial conditions, it stated.
At present, 329 numbers of drugs/medicines are provided free of cost to patients with setting up of Drug Distribution Counters (Niramaya Counters) at SCBMCH, Cuttack and two more are in the pipeline, one at Surgery OPD, another at orthopedic OPD through Odisha State Medical Corporation Limited, the hospital authorities informed the division bench.
The medicines which are readily not available from OSMC, Odisha are being procured from empanelled medicine shops under Local Purchase and Bulk Purchase Scheme and provided to the indoor patients. However, due to heavy demand, some medicines may have been briefly out of stock and the same is replenished at the earliest, added the hospital authorities.
Modern facilities, such as fully automated and integrated drug distribution along with other facilities to patients through computerized bar coded pneumatic systems etc. are also envisaged, under the plan, they informed.
The Hospital Superintendent assured the Court to place digital boards in each Niramaya Centre in SCBMCH, Cuttack as to what are the medicines available alphabetically and if stock are not available for any medicines, the same shall also be reflected in such boards so that the patients need not wait in queue for hours together.