Siliguri, Jan. 19: The Siliguri district hospital has bagged the third place under the state government's Sushree scheme and has been selected as a contender for the Kayakalp scheme of the Union ministry of health and family welfare.

The announcement was made by north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb here today.

Under the central scheme, hospitals get financial aid after fulfiling certain criteria regarding cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation.

Deb, who is chairperson of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti of the district hospital, said the state health department had recommended the district hospital for an inspection by a central health team for the Kayakalp scheme.

The MJN Hospital in Cooch Behar and Bangur Hospital in Calcutta, which have secured the first and second positions, respectively, under the Sushree scheme would also compete at the national level.

"Siliguri hospital will participate in a national-level competition with other hospitals under a scheme of the Union ministry of health and family welfare. The scheme focuses on cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation aspects and a central team is expected to visit the hospital for an inspection by August. The hospital has secured the third position, after MJN Hospital in Cooch Behar and Bangur Hospital in Calcutta, under a state scheme," Deb said after a meeting of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti here today.

District health officials said, under the state government's Sushree scheme, the performance of a government health establishment is judged in terms of maintaining cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation.

"Health teams from the Swasthya Bhavan had conducted an inspection in all state-run hospitals in October last year and Siliguri hospital has secured third position for maintaining good standards of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation. As it is among the top three hospitals in the state, the state health department has recommended the Siliguri hospital for an inspection under the Kayakalp scheme," a district health official said.

Sources in the district hospital said if the establishment managed to score 70 per cent or above during the inspection by the central team, it would be eligible for an annual grant of Rs 5,000 per bed.

This means, Siliguri district hospital can get an additional central fund of Rs 18 lakh a year as it has 360 beds.

The hospital gets around 500 to 700 patients on an average everyday in the outdoor departments.

Around 350 to 400 patients are admitted to different wards of the hospital at any given point.

"The purpose of both the Sushree and Kayakalp schemes is to promote cleanliness, hygiene, sanitation in public healthcare facilities, which would lead to infection control and good health of patients. We had been provided with a booklet issued by the Centre that carried more than 200 stipulations about cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation. These include the hospital's plan in implementing the cleanliness drive, cleaning procedures and the equipment utilised, frequency of cleaning and monitoring mechanisms, disinfection and sterilisation of equipment, waste disposal system, cleaning of operation theatres, labour wards, infectious disease wards, toilets, kitchen and laundry," a hospital official said.

"We have already started implementing the guidelines mentioned in the booklet. If a hospital manages to score more than 70 per cent under different parameters during the inspection, then it is entitled to the additional annual grant from the Centre," he added.