Jasdeep Singh, Group Chief Executive Officer, CARE Hospitals highlights that it is important for governments and public sector healthcare providers to continue building alliances with the private healthcare sector to ensure quality care is delivered to patients in need
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly slowed down in India with the daily count of cases falling to the lowest levels since May 2020. As one of the most disruptive occurrences globally in the last decade; the pandemic has demonstrated that in India, as in most parts of the world, there are shortfalls in pandemic preparedness. Additionally, continuous years of underfunding India’s healthcare systems has resulted in highly strained and burdened systems which, as we saw during the height of the pandemic, were unable to keep up with patient demand.
Among other competing national priorities, the Indian Government did what it could, to confine the spread of, and treat reported cases of COVID-19, while keeping sight of other healthcare issues throughout the country.
By mid-2021, the government had made meaningful strides in India’s healthcare development, including launching a credit-incentive programme worth Rs 500 billion (US $6.6 billion). The programme hopes to boost public-provided healthcare infrastructure and offer firms the resources to expand hospital capacity or medical supplies. However, as this can only have a limited impact, more action is needed.
Roughly 70 per cent of health services in India are provided by the private sector. Players such as the CARE Hospitals are making a big difference and have the potential to make an even larger impact on the development of the nation. This is not prescriptive; ultimately policymakers need to address the role that private care plays in health systems and introduce appropriate regulation so that public goals of universal coverage and equitable access to healthcare can be achieved across the country.
It is important for governments and public sector healthcare providers to continue building alliances with the private healthcare sector to ensure quality care is delivered to patients in need. We have seen the benefit of the private sector contributing to improvements in technological advancement, governance, research and development, workforce development, and capacity building. These are key factors in attracting internationally skilled healthcare professionals to India and thus making world-class patient experiences more accessible.
While many speculate on potential healthcare challenges in the coming years, I believe that there are many areas of opportunities to come. We must continue to build greater resilience in healthcare systems in India and focus on growth, improvement, and adaptation.
Growth and development
Providing training and enhancing skills in critical and preventative care is necessary to continue tackling the pandemic while also focusing on other health conditions. The need for trained doctors and nurses has been a constant in India’s healthcare sector for many years now, but post-pandemic it is more important than ever to increase the number of skilled healthcare professionals to address the needs of the growing population.
Improvement
With the onslaught of COVID-19, respiratory diseases have been prevalent in hospitals for the last couple of years. Efforts to understand and contain COVID-19 have come at the expense of treating other life-threatening health conditions. The once regular screening and treatment of conditions like cancer and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have been disrupted. We must focus on improving access to quality healthcare and medicines across our nation for those in need.
Adapt
India’s 2021 budget increased allocation by over 130 per cent, with a focus shifting to self-reliance, and investment in technology. The government also plans to set up medical parks and allow up to 100 per cent investments from foreign direct investors.
Adoption of technology and innovation has advanced during the pandemic, allowing healthcare professionals to continue serving patients despite the lockdown through remote consultations. This reduced time, cost, and provisioned for adherence to lockdown restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19. Maintaining this trajectory of technology innovation is essential to making healthcare systems more resilient, innovative and prepared for the future. Furthermore, it contributes to the public and private goal of making quality healthcare affordable and accessible.
What’s next?
Many would agree on these next steps; achievement is key to realizing the vision of healthy lives and wellbeing for all. The main obstacle to realization, as with many areas of development, is financing. Crucial funding provided by the private sector can complement the Government’s efforts to ensure quality healthcare for all.
The private sector also has a wealth of technical expertise which can feed into the accessibility of the public sector transforming India’s healthcare infrastructure. Post-pandemic India needs a robust system that can handle potential health crises on one end while ensuring that healthcare needs are continuously addressed on the other. Pooling the expertise and facilities of the private healthcare sector with the access and subsidies of the public sector could help India to move from relief to rebuilding and recovery.
In India, the private sector can bridge the gap in the current infrastructure keeping the systems well-equipped even during future crises, as Evercare did in South Asia and Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, CARE Hospitals have been investing in India to provide quality-driven healthcare services, with 13 state-of-the-art CARE Hospitals offering over 2,100 beds in six cities across five states of India. The group has further plans to expand to multiple other locations across the country.
A collaborative transformation of the traditional healthcare model to include a mix of private and public sector involvement is only the way forward. The partnership between private and public healthcare players has already yielded great results during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thanks to the collaboration, the nation saw increased testing and mass vaccination drives across India which drastically controlled the spread of the virus. India reached its 1 billion vaccinations milestone very quickly despite the size of the nation. This success was due to the collective efforts of the government, public and private healthcare providers, and citizens.
The blueprint is set, with the right investment, collaboration, and partnerships, we can work together to raise the delivery of our healthcare system for the benefit of our people.