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Chandigarh: Nearly half of Punjab’s health facilities fall short of the 80% benchmark set under the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS), pointing to gaps in infrastructure, diagnostics and human resources across districts.
The Indian Public Health Standards are a set of uniform benchmarks laid down by the central govt, covering services, infrastructure, manpower, drugs, diagnostics, equipment, accountability, quality, clinical governance and monitoring, aimed at improving the quality of healthcare delivery.
Of the 3,699 facilities assessed, only 52.5% fell in the compliant category of above 80%. The remaining facilities were either in the aspirant or progressive categories. Domain-wise, 25% of facilities were compliant in diagnostics, 27% in drugs, 62% in human resources, 23% in infrastructure, 59% in governance and 65% in services, according to IPHS data till January 23 shared at the recent health civil surgeons conference.
In diagnostics, 608 (16%) facilities were below 25% compliance, while another 732 (19%) fell in the 25%–50% bracket. For drugs, 329 facilities (9%) were below 25% compliance and 811 (21%) were in the 25%–50% range. In human resources, 96 (3%) were below 25%, while 323 (9%) fell between 25% and 50%. Infrastructure remained a concern, with 190 facilities (5%) below 25% compliance and 767 (20%) in the 25%–50% category. In governance, 309 facilities (8%) were below 25% compliance.
Of the 3,699 facilities assessed, Sub Centres showed the highest compliance levels. Out of 2,951 Sub Centres, 1,845 (62.5%) were compliant above 80%. Among Primary Health Centres, 82 out of 521 facilities (15.7%) were compliant. For Community Health Centres, 8 out of 163 (4.9%) met the above 80% benchmark. At higher levels, only 1 out of 23 District Hospitals (4.3%) was compliant. Among 41 Sub-Divisional Hospitals, 5 (12.2%) were compliant. Overall, 1,941 facilities (52.5%) were compliant, while 131 facilities (3.5%) fell below 25% compliance and 439 (11.9%) were in the 25%–49% bracket.
District performance
District-wise, no district achieved overall compliance above 80%. Ropar recorded an overall compliance of 64.2%, followed by Muktsar at 63.4% and Faridkot at 62.8%. Gurdaspur reported 60%, Ferozepur 57.8%, Fazilka 56.1% and Bathinda 56.1%. Several districts were below 50% overall compliance, including Jalandhar at 47.6%, Amritsar at 47.4%, Barnala at 47.2%, Patiala at 46.0%, Pathankot at 45.9%, Ludhiana at 45.8% and Kapurthala at 41.4%.
National ranking
Punjab ranks fifth among states in the percentage of facilities scoring above 80%, with 51% of assessed facilities crossing that mark. Andhra Pradesh leads with 73%, followed by Telangana at 71%, Tamil Nadu at 53% and Maharashtra at 52%.
