Healthcare quality should not suffer in quest for more doctors: JP Nadda

RAIPUR: Union Health Minister J P Nadda today said the medical education framework must attend to the "critical requirement" of enhancing clinical skills which he claimed often get ignored due to the pressure of producing more doctors.

The Union minister stressed the need for developing clinical skills in the doctors.

"Due to the pressure of producing more doctors, the clinical skills tend to get ignored. The medical education framework should attend to this critical requirement," Nadda said.

He was addressing All India Medical and Dental Students Conference at Raipur Chattisgarh today.

Nadda also emphasised the need to develop a framework for holistic healthcare and well-being rather than merely sick-care.

"While there is a challenge of manpower in the healthcare sector and there is a focus on quantity, quality is equally important and should not be lost sight of," he said.

Recalling the old concept of family physician, who used to be a vital part of the healthcare set-up of the family and knew the health issues and needs of the family, Nadda said that there was a need to revive that concept again in the quest to move from sick-care to well-being.

Nadda also appreciated the various innovative initiatives undertaken by the Chhattisgarh government in the health sector and said it has provided a social security to the common masses. Chief Minister of the state, Raman Singh, was also present during the occasion.

Earlier in the day, Nadda also distributed Computer Tablets to urban Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) under the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) at a function at Raipur.

Stating that the tablets will help the ANMs in more efficient delivery of services to the urban areas, particularly the urban slums, Nadda said that these devices will be useful for real-time data collection and reporting on the various health services being provided under the NUHM.

Observing that record keeping of the data from the field was a "weak link" in effective monitoring of progress of the schemes, the Minister said that the tablets will aid in efficient record keeping and better monitoring.