A nurse administers an injection to a patient at PMCH. Telegraph picture

Patients can soon benefit from the health department’s decision to take government hospitals to task if essential drugs are unavailable at the facilities.

The hospitals have been asked to send daily reports to the department with details like which medicines are out of stock and why. Senior health officer said this would ensure transparent procurement and smooth distribution of medicines among patients.

“We had earlier asked the medical colleges to send lists of the medicines they had in stock. That order is now being revised. We provide sufficient funds to the medical colleges every year to buy drugs. They are supposed to make periodical assessments and have all the essential medicines in the stock at all time,” said additional health secretary Rajendra Prasad Ojha.

He added: “If the stock of any particular drug is running low, the hospital authorities are supposed to purchase it beforehand. If they don’t do it, it is a fault on their part. If we find any misappropriation of funds or lethargy on the part of hospital administrations, action will be taken against them.”

Order letters to Patna Medical College and Hospital, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital, Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital, Gaya, Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital, Muzaffarpur and Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, Bhagalpur.

The hospitals have been asked to start sending daily updates as soon as they get the directive.

According to government norms, 41 drugs should be available at the outpatient departments of hospitals, while 193 drugs are listed for indoor patients. Thirty drugs have been listed as essential for operation theatres. The state spends around Rs 150 crore every year to purchase drugs. But, many medicines remain out of stock.

In PMCH, only 76 essential drugs were available on Tuesday. Hospital deputy superintendent Dr R.K. Singh said many drugs were out of stock because of lack of supply.

Senior health department officers claimed that medical college hospitals are instructed to buy medicines directly from empanelled companies and therefore could not come up with such an excuse.

State Health Society, Bihar has issued similar instruction to district and sub-divisional hospitals. Under the present system, civil surgeons in 38 districts and superintendents in medical colleges have been authorised to buy the listed medicines from 44 drug agencies on pre-approved rates.