New Delhi, June 4 (IANS) The Delhi government on Wednesday handed over the entire responsibility of the procurement of medicines and medical devices in the hospitals to the Central Procurement Agency (CPA).
In a letter addressed to Secretary Health and Family Welfare at Delhi Secretariat, Director DGHS, and all MDMS, Atul Marwaha, OSD to Minister, said that the decision is a historic step towards making the healthcare system more effective and patient centric.
“The CPA is now designated as the sole agency responsible for the procurement of medicines, consumables, medical devices, machinery, equipment,” the letter said.
Importantly, “procurement will be carried out by the CPA based on demands received from the respective hospitals/institutions/healthcare facilities in Delhi”, it stated.
The decision comes as some hospitals and institutions were found to procure medical devices, and consumables, “through direct purchases or by using the cart feature on the Government e-Marketplace (GEM) portal”, said the letter.
The practice inflated prices, price discrepancies, and also raised serious concerns of audit non-compliance.
As per the new order, all purchases of medical devices, any other consumables, machinery and equipment must be made exclusively through the e-procurement process.
It “strictly prohibited” hospitals to make direct purchases or cart-based procurement on the GeM portal.
“All demands and bidding processes shall be handled solely by the Central Procurement Agency (CPA). No hospital or institution is authorised to undertake cart purchases or initiate bidding directly. All procurement requirements and demands must be submitted to the CPA,” the letter said.
However, in case of exceptional or emergency situations where immediate procurement via GeM cart is unavoidable, the concerned institution must submit the demand to the CPA.
The CPA will assess the urgency and coordinate procurement on behalf of the hospital.
“Any deviation from these directives will be viewed seriously and may result in disciplinary and/or legal action as deemed appropriate by the competent authority. This order is issued with the approval of the Minister, Health & Family Welfare, and is to be strictly implemented by all concerned officers and institutions,” the letter said.
With the new decision, the doctors and medical staff will be able to focus their time and energy on patient care, rather than on administrative procedures.
It will also bolster patients care.
“This decision has been made in the interest of patients. Doctors will now be able to spend more time with patients, leading to a remarkable improvement in the quality of treatment,” said a spokesperson for the Delhi Government.
–IANS
rvt/pgh
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
