Warehouses to create drug stocks

The Delhi government’s health department is coming up with three warehouses which will accommodate the buffer stock of medicines and other essentials purchased through the centralised system. This is likely to help the department bridge the demand-supply gap in drugs at hospitals.

In the past one year, state government hospitals have reported an acute shortage of medicines, vaccines, intravenous fluids and other essentials. Resident doctors have gone on strikes over the issue after they were attacked in several cases by patients’ families when not being able to provide  drugs at hospitals. Hospital administration claimed there was delay in supply.

All drugs and other essentials are now procured through the Central Procurement Agency (CPA).

The three identified sites are Guru Gobind Singh Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital and Lok Nayak Hospital (LNJP).

Little progress
However, with little progress with the construction work at LNJP, one of the warehouses will be run out of the Directorate of Health Services office in Kakardooma on a temporary basis.

“Earlier, hospitals were being supplied with the medicines and consumables directly from the suppliers. Hospitals could store stocks for around three months. There was delay in supplies to the hospitals on short notices.

It was also difficult for the hospitals to individually keep tab on the drug supply system. Now all medicines are being procured through the CPA. There will be no strain on the hospitals when they run out of stocks as the supplies can be promptly sent from the warehouses,” said a senior official, health department.

The bulk supplies of voluminous items like IVF bottles will be made directly to the hospitals by the suppliers.

“Till now, around 10 per cent of the stocks are being stored. The buffer stock will be scaled up once the three warehouses are ready,” said the official.

The department is planning to make the three warehouses functional within December 31. The first site will be operational in two weeks.

“The existing software of teh CPA is currently being made more sophisticated and dynamic so that it is able to monitor the stocks and check for expired stocks,” said Dr Vijoy Kumar, Director, CPA, Directorate of Health Services.