Niti Aayog to monitor health of 700 district hospitals

NEW DELHI: With the aim of fostering competition among government hospitals, Niti Aayog has decided to rank district hospitals on the basis of their performance on health indicators. There are around 700 district hospitals across the country to provide secondary healthcare facilities to the people.

A joint exercise of the health ministry and Niti Aayog, the index — Health of our Hospitals — launched by Niti vice chairman Arvind Panagariya will track the performance of district hospitals.

The move came after Niti Aayog felt that despite large funds being allocated to these hospitals which have a critical role in providing healthcare, there is no comprehensive system to assess their performance based on measurable health outcomes.

The index will also capture, for the first time, the feedback from patients. “The framework for ranking district hospitals, with focus on achieving key health outcomes, is expected to foster a competitive spirit amongst them. It will also foster a culture of cooperation by way of sharing of good practices,” said an official.

He said, “It will also help identify facilities which need focus and those that need to be incentivised by the states.”