Dr Anil Kumar, IRMS, Director General, Railway Health Services (RHS) elucidates, on how RHS has been imparting healthcare services to the largest rail network in Asia and the world’s second-largest network operated under a single management
Can you give details of the healthcare services of RHS?
The Indian Railway Medical Service (IRMS) provides comprehensive healthcare facilities to about 67 lakh beneficiaries through our 125 hospitals and 586 health units which are spread across India. We have 16 zonal hospitals at zonal headquarters, each division has a divisional hospital which is tertiary hospital with super-specialty facilities and around 600 beds. Each zonal hospital has four to five divisional hospitals with 150-200 beds. Each divisional hospital will have two to three sub divisional hospitals with 10-15 beds. We cater to the primary and secondary healthcare. We attend to over two crore out-patients and 2.6 lakh indoor patients in a year. Over two lakh surgeries are performed in our hospitals. We undertake periodic medical examination for the railway staff, and the candidates who are recruited are classified into A,B and C categories. Moreover, medical examination are performed for 48,850 candidates and 1,33,761 employees.
With Indian Railways transporting more than 23 million people every day, how do you make sure that timely medical service are made available? What are the major challenges you face in this regard?
Apart from the railway employees, the 586 health units help us serve the remotest parts of the country. We have a robust system and we have had consistently put our efforts to improve the medical facilities provided in trains and stations. Every long distance trains’ superintendents and guards are provided augmented first aid boxes, which contain essential drugs, dressing materials and disposable medical materials. In addition to this, front line staff deployed on trains are trained in rendering first aid. We have attended 68,340 calls in trains this year. We try to put in our efforts to give immediate medical support during time of emergency.
The IR healthcare wings looks after the provision of safe food and water supplies to railway stations. Recently, a CAG audit report had indicated that the food served by the Indian Railways to its passengers is unfit for consumption by humans. Dirty water was being used for beverages like coffee, tea and soups. CAG has informed that complaint redress system is defunct. Your comments.
We monitor food safety and water quality. Per division, we have a food safety officer, and they keep monitoring the food and the water supplied. They take sample and test it to see if there is any adulteration and bring it to the notice of the the commercial department. The commercial department has to take a call as it gives the contract to the catering agencies. In past one year, we have done 18,102 food sampling and the water sampling has been done 68,617 times in last one year.
Performance of Medical Department of Indian Railways 2016-17
- No of hospitals – 125
- Health units – 586
- No of doctors – 2597
- No of paramedicals – 41000
- No of OPD patients per annum – 20734564
- No of IPD patients per annum – 469293
- No of surgical operations per annum – 151379
- Per capita expenditure per annum -Rs.5621
- No of trains having first aid boxes – 13313
- No of trains having augmented first aid boxes – 162
What is your opinion on outsourcing railway health services?
We have been maintaining it well and I don’t see a reason for the RHS to be outsourced.
On digitisation of IRMS?
The Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) is developing the Hospital Information System (HIS) for us. All the hospitals will be connected. Initially, the HIS will be done in Northern Railways zone, later other zones will be connected. They are working on it. Once this is done, it will help us work more efficiently, and certainly data maintenance will be enhanced.
Among the 16 railway zones, which zone has performed well in terms of health services and hygiene?
A few zones are doing an outstanding job. Among them, BR Singh Hospital in Kolkata, Perambur Railway Hospital in Chennai and CR Byculla Hospital in Mumbai are doing an excellent job.