Jammu: To reduce the ever-increasing number of referrals from Primary Health Centers (PHCs), Community Health Centers (CHCs) to premier medical colleges like Government Medical College(GMC) Jammu and Government Medical College(GMC) GMC Srinagar, the Department of Health and Medical Education is formulating a new referral policy. Under this policy, new guidelines will be issued regarding patient referrals and it is expected that this policy will be implemented soon in Jammu and Kashmir. Around 40 to 50 patients each are referred to both GMC Jammu and GMC Srinagar on a daily basis.
According to sources, the Commissioner Secretary of the Health and Medical Education Department has assigned the responsibility of drafting the referral policy to few senior physicians. Work on the new policy began within the department after this exercise. Department sources say that a draft policy has been prepared and is being reviewed by the Commissioner Secretary and it may be notified once the review is complete.
The main objective of the new policy is to prevent unnecessary referrals to hospitals and to establish accountability for various healthcare institutions. However, official details of the policy’s provisions have not yet been shared. According to sources, doctors will be required to clearly cite the reasons for referring a patient.
Responsibilities will be defined for all health institutions, including government and private hospitals. Currently, a large number of patients are referred from Primary Health Centers, Community Health Centers, Sub-District Hospitals, and District Hospitals to Medical College Jammu and Medical College Srinagar. The department believes that the implementation of the new policy will reduce unnecessary referrals and improve the efficiency of health services.
Patients are referred to Medical College Jammu and Medical College Srinagar from primary health centers, community health centers, and district hospitals. Many suffer from common ailments that could be treated at local hospitals, but due to a lack of accountability, these patients are referred to medical colleges. Health and medical education department sources say that under the new policy, no doctor will be able to refer a patient without a clear reason. Even if they do refer a patient for specific reasons, the patient will be immediately referred to a local hospital for further treatment after treatment.
Moreover private practitioners and nursing homes will be required to take responsibility for stabilizing and clearly documenting the necessity of shifting patients (such as complicated pre- or post-natal cases) before sending them to government medical colleges.
Sources say the policy also recommends the appointment of trained staff for emergencies. Senior department officials say a new referral policy has been established, but no one provided further details. Referrals of patients from any hospital to a medical college are controversial. Patients and attendants often accuse hospitals of lacking infrastructure when referring them. Patients are referred from primary health centers to district hospitals. On average, forty to fifty patients arrive at GMC Jammu each day. Many patients come directly to the General Hospital for treatment. This is causing increased patient pressure at the Jammu GMC. MLAs have also raised the issue of referring patients several times.
