Jaipur: With winter-related complications increasing risks for mothers and newborns, health department has flagged the non-deployment of trained staff in delivery rooms and newborn care units as a serious concern.Despite spending lakhs of rupees on training nurses and other medical staff, trained personnel were found to be posted elsewhere instead of labour rooms, maternity operation theatres and newborn care units. Acknowledging the gravity of the issue, the department Thursday stressed that availability of trained staff in delivery rooms, maternity OTs, Newborn Stabilization Units (NBSU), Sick Newborn Care Units (SNCU) and Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) is essential to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality rates and to ensure quality institutional deliveries and emergency obstetric and newborn care.In an order issued by principal secretary (medical education) Gayatri Rathore, the department has ordered that in all institutions under officials’ supervision where these services are provided, trained staff must work in the same place for which they were trained for at least three years, said a senior health department official.The order further stated that if any change in posting is required for unavoidable reasons, prior permission from the health department will be mandatory, and trained staff can be replaced only by equally trained personnel. Officials have been directed to strictly ensure compliance with these instructions.The department is also in the process of establishing a specialised cadre of nurses trained specifically for operation theatres, ICUs, labour rooms and SNCUs. Officials said the cadre would strengthen critical care services in govt hospitals and address the current lack of clear posting guidelines for specialist nurses.At present, replacing trained staff with untrained personnel and posting specialised nurses to community and primary health centres is affecting healthcare delivery and leading to underutilisation of skills acquired through state-sponsored training programmes.The health department said it aims to retain specially trained nurses in tertiary care centres so that their expertise is effectively used to improve outcomes for mothers and newborns across the state.
Posting of only trained staff in child care units | Jaipur News
