Visakhapatnam: Officials told to focus on improving healthcare services says Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao

Visakhapatnam: Healthcare services in government hospitals are being developed under the able guidance of Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, said Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao.

Attending the task force meeting on Covid-19 held at VMRDA Children's Arena here on Saturday, the Minister underlined the need to inform the kin of the deceased who died due to coronavirus at the government hospitals on time.

Alleging that the TDP had neglected the Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) during its regime, Srinivasa Rao exhorted the medical staff to strive hard and gain the confidence of the patients. He directed the authorities concerned to recruit doctors and the staff according to the requirement and also focus on increasing the bed capacity.

"This apart, health officials should hold a teleconference with colony associations ward-wise to identify the lapses and work towards improving them," he emphasised.

The Minister said that 550 beds would be available at Covid-19 block in King George Hospital. On one hand, infrastructure was being developed and on the other, staff recruitment was being done to meet the requirements, he added.

District Collector V Vinay Chand said recently 403 doctors were recruited in collaboration with Indian Medical Association with a salary of Rs 1.5 lakh each to meet the requirement.

GVMC Commissioner G Srijana said 3,000 rapid antigen tests were being conducted per day.

OSD, VIMS Venugopal, Anakapalle MP B V Sathyavati, MLAs Karanam Dharmasree, Adeep Raj, Tippala Nagireddy, Principal of Andhra Medical College P V Sudhakar, DCP (Zone-I) Aishwarya Rastogi, Rural SP B Krishna Rao and other officials participated.