478 NQAS Certificates Awarded in Tamil Nadu, Yet Quality Issues Persist in Community Health Centres
CHENNAI: Over the past decade, healthcare facilities in Tamil Nadu have received 478 National Quality Assurance Scheme (NQAS) certificates, with 239 of those awarded in the last year alone. Despite this achievement, a recent study by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (DPHPM) highlights persistent quality issues in Community Health Centres (CHCs) across the state.
The study, aimed at understanding the reasons behind the failure of some CHCs to achieve NQAS certification, points out significant deficiencies in quality management, support services, clinical care, and human resources. The NQAS program, designed to elevate the standard of care in public health facilities, uses comprehensive parameters to assess healthcare delivery in community settings.
Dr. T.S. Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, co-authored the study which involved 130 out of the 423 CHCs in Tamil Nadu participating in the NQAS assessments. However, only about 30.7% of CHCs underwent these evaluations, with 7% failing to pass.
The assessment checklist, covering 12 critical areas including emergency services, outpatient care, and laboratory services, revealed that 80% of the failing CHCs scored low on quality management. Notably, these centres scored below 70% in five out of ten departments, with a particularly alarming 60% failing in blood storage management.
The study underscored the need for:
- Strengthening Quality Management: Enhancing policy implementation, continuous improvement, and quality assurance.
- Improving Clinical Care: Ensuring compliance with standard treatment guidelines, better emergency preparedness, and improved blood storage and transfusion practices.
- Addressing HR Constraints: Increasing staffing resources, prioritizing training, and exploring financial support options to bolster human resource capabilities.
Dr. Selvavinayagam emphasized the importance of these improvements, stating, “For our healthcare system to truly serve the community effectively, we must focus on these critical areas of improvement highlighted by the NQAS assessments.”
The findings of this study serve as a call to action for state health authorities to implement targeted interventions to enhance the quality of healthcare services in Tamil Nadu's CHCs, ensuring they meet the high standards set by the NQAS.