Keralam to roll out 24x7 specialty care at District, General Hospitals

K. Muraleedharan | Photo Credit: SPECAIL ARRANGEMENT The government is introducing 24x7 specialty services at selected District and General Hospitals to ensure that patients can access specialist care closer to home and without having to rush to medical college hospitals.The new facilities, to be called Pratheeksha Centres, will provide round-the-clock services in medicine, surgery, orthopaedics, paediatrics and gynaecology. The government aims to establish at least one such centre in every district, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan said here on Wednesday.The pilot run of the initiative, which began at Punalur Taluk Hospital on September 1, has evoked good public response, he added. This facility is expected to be full-fledged by September 10 and all shortcomings will be addressed as these are identified.Mr. Muraleedharan said he had ironed out all differences with government doctors, who he said were willing to take up the 24x7 initiative but were concerned about the huge number of existing vacancies of specialists.“The government acknowledges the fact that the issue of shortage of human resources in the Health department is real and has promised to fill vacancies in phases and deploy the required number of other ancillary hospital employees. Doctors will also be redeployed as required depending on the workload in institutions. The Director of Health Services has directed all District Medical Officers to fill vacancies in districts on an ad hoc basis till PSC-recruited doctors join service,” the Minister said.‘Hridayaragam’ campaignMr. Muraleedharan announced that the Health department would launch a new initiative named Hridayaragam, a population-based campaign for the early detection of lifestyle diseases and ensuring the continuum of care throughout the referral chain, so as to reduce the rate of complications later.“The campaign will include house-to-house surveys, screening camps, peer-support groups, diagnostic testing, ensuring availability of essential medicines and providing treatment and follow-up care of patients in a time-bound manner. The campaign will initially be piloted in three Assembly constituencies representing different geographical and demographic settings — Vattiyurkavu in Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki, and Nilambur in Malappuram — and scaled up later depending on the results.Re-naming of MHCsIt has been proposed that the mental health centres (MHCs) in the State are re-named as “happiness and wellness centres” in accordance with a High Court directive, Mr. Muraleedharan said.The government will improve infrastructure and human resources in all the three MHCs in the State and put in a holistic care plan for promoting the physical and mental wellbeing of patients. Beyond the traditional medical treatment, other aspects of mental health provision, including counselling, stress management, and lifestyle interventions will also be offered.“The MHCs will be revamped so that these become healing centres for young people who are struggling with stress, sleep deprivation, depression, substance abuse and such. Yoga, meditation, exercise, cultural activities, reading and group activities could form part of the broader wellness model,” the Minister said..He said the initiatives marked the beginning of a wider effort to reform the health system based on direct assessment of people’s needs and hospital conditions. Published - September 02, 2026 08:06 pm IST