Date: Jan-26-2022
Medical care by the people for the people
By : P K Garg MD Founder Swasthya Sevak Sangh
During Covid, we learned that ultimately families had to take care of sick people and pay for supplies and outside professional care. We even learn how to take vital signs and use tools like pulse oximeters. We have been saying before Covid-19, that for people in the world, let us say citizens of India need to change the system whereby all students get involved in basic medical care no matter what level or what professional education one is aiming for.
We also learned that there are risks to patients, as outside health care providers may come with many compromises and extra-large financial burdens. Travel along with in house service comes with added expenses that can not be avoided like drawing blood at home for convenience. Also, health systems and resources are already inadequate and will likely remain. Due to more demands with the modern age and population growth. The shortage will remain at all levels. Care will be compromised. Fragmented care and incompetency will breed all over the care system.
Solution:
If lots of family members become efficient in care and become better and better with the help of a ‘workable system‘ to assist them to learn those skills they will be able to learn and use them directly on those who matter to them most, as their families and to the community in which they live. More personnel will ultimately decrease the overall healthcare labour supply.
What we need:
Develop a system. A system whereby we have a very structured mini teaching course, curriculum and skill developing programs. We have to have an evaluation system where we can certify a person that he or she has acquired a skill. After that certificate one can use that skill ( only ) on others and keep a record online. There will be 100% preceptorship up to a certain point.
Who will do it:
We at Swasthya Sevak Sangh, Health departments of Government, All civil societies and professional organizations, after they get convinced and come on board will have to get involved and start developing admin and courses. In my opinion, the same principle can be applied to higher education. Besides some fundamental changes ( on which I will write separately) we can know that a person is properly trained and qualified in these skills and not in all. For example, can anybody tell us for sure that a recently graduated Surgeon in India has done all that is exacted and required of him or her to be certified as a particular type of surgeon?
Every clinic, every physician, every hospital needs to teach "general public, family members" People who learn will have to teach others after their competency is tested.
Simultaneously we will begin to see how uniformity of training for a particular degree will come in and that will solve a perennial problem of substandard training for the future workforce in healthcare. When more people are involved in health care, the awareness of the importance of health care will rise in the public's mind. For example, they are aware of political issues and they will become a watchdog of every move that the government does or does not do in health care.
People will demand that we spend more than 1.9% of GDP on healthcare in India.