Govt imposes maintenance fee on donors of medical equipment
The move, ostensibly to ensure that donated items are utilised properly, also points to the inadequacies in the state's health infrastructure, which the health department appears to be making an effort to fix.
As per the latest govt order, state-run hospitals and health facilities will receive donations of equipment, ambulances, and medical devices through a dedicated Donation Acceptance Committee (DAC) to ensure uninterrupted functionality.
"This new system aims to prevent donated equipment from remaining idle," said Gayatri Rathore, principal secretary (health). She said these committees should only accept donations if the facility has the necessary infrastructure and staff to operate them.
Rathore added that sometimes diagnostic machines are donated to hospitals where specific tests are not covered under free diagnostic schemes, rendering the equipment useless.
To prevent this, health department will impose maintenance charges on donors. For example, donors of ambulances will be required to pay for their upkeep to ensure functionality. If a donor is providing machines, equipment, or devices, they will need to pay for consumable items required for the functionality of the machine for five years.
Health department will establish DACs in hospitals to oversee and approve donations of medical equipment, ambulances, and machines.
"For ambulance donations, donors must provide funding for a five-year period to cover operational costs, including driver wages, fuel expenses, and maintenance requirements," Rathore said.
This initiative addresses the issue of donated items remaining unused due to health department's limited resources to make them operational. Previously, donated equipment at hospitals which lacked resources to operate them remained idle for years. For instance, nearly half of the 140 oxygen plants built at a cost of Rs 2 crore each by donors, are lying defunct in Rajasthan.
Now, committees will assess the usefulness of donated items and authorise donations accordingly. Before a hospital accepts a donation, it must ensure availability of doctors or technical staff to operate the equipment.
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