Minister for Health, Family Welfare and Medical Education Vidadala Rajini has said that the burden on the tertiary healthcare staff has been eased because of the strengthening of the primary and secondary healthcare facilities with adequate staff and infrastructure in the State.
Ms. Rajini has said that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy envisaged strengthening the village-level healthcare system, and the same has been achieved by recruiting over 49,000 staff and establishing more village health clinics.
About 80% of the population is getting healthcare services at primary and secondary healthcare facilities, she said at the inauguration of the Administrative Training Programme for Principals, Superintendents and Administrators organised by the Health Department in Vijayawada on Wednesday.
She said the State government is also strengthening tertiary care by establishing 17 new medical colleges. Of them, five medical colleges will start functioning from the current academic year.
The government has spent over ₹8,500 crore on the existing medical colleges and teaching hospitals and a total of ₹16,000 crore is being spent on the healthcare system, the Minister said.
Ms. Rajini said every doctor should be available in their respective healthcare facility from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. She asked the Superintendents to ensure the doctors and other staff were punctual.
She said medical college Principals and hospital Superintendents should work in tandem for better management of the teaching hospitals.
Principals of medical colleges, Superintendents of teaching hospitals from across the State took part in the training programme.