Good response to 'Family Doctor' plan, over 7L have benefitted so far: Jagan

Amaravati: The soft launch of the 'Family Doctor' concept in Andhra Pradesh received good response from the people, Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy said on Thursday. As of 29 November 2022, a total of 7,86,226 patients benefitted from it through 7,166 village clinics, he added. In December, 260 MMUs (mobile medical units) were added.

Jagan, during the health review, directed the health department officials to complete the recruitment of medical staff in the coming weeks and ensure facial recognition for attendance. "All the people in the state should be aware of Aarogyasri empaneled hospitals, especially the ANM, MLHP, and Asha workers who should guide the public at the ward and village secretariat level," he said.

He also advised the officials to give tabs to the medical staff in PHCs, CHCs, and village clinics who will direct the people toward the Aarogyasri hospitals. Tabs will have all the details like the nearest hospitals with the particular treatment facilities available at the centre.

The Chief Minister also directed the officials to ensure that the ANMs visit the houses of people who have availed the Aarogyasri services before clearing the hospital bills. He emphasized speeding up village clinic works under Nadu-Nedu since it would help the doctors under the Family Doctor concept to function efficiently. "Work on new medical colleges, which are under various stages of construction, should be expedited. Get in touch with the contractors and counsel them to give results as early as possible," said the CM.

App for medical services

The Chief Minister instructed the officials to develop an app like Disha to help people with medical services, including Aarogyasri benefits. The app shall offer details of the nearest available hospitals and illness-specific clinics. Once the app is launched, if one calls 108 instead of 104, those calls should be diverted and the patients helped immediately.