Kejriwal govt to outsource supply of medicines

Step to ensure that hospitals don't run out of stock

The Delhi government is all set to outsource the distribution of medicines and consumables from its warehouses to its hospitals so that they don’t run out of stock.

This comes after the government upgraded its Essential Medicine List (EML) from slightly over 700 to 1,390.

These are the drugs which patients are supposed to get free at city government hospitals.

In the first phase, the government will outsource the supply of medicines from the warehouse at Guru Gobind Singh Hospital in Raghubir Nagar.

“The warehouse in Raghubir Nagar is now operational. Once medicines from the updated list are stocked, the volume of medicines will be huge. For a smooth transition, we have decided to outsource the supply chain of medicines from warehouse to the hospitals so that patients do not face shortage of drugs,” said a senior official, Central Procurement Agency (CPA).

The second phase will cover the supply of medicines out of warehouses at Lok Nayak Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital, and Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital.
The tenders for the procurement of medicines added to the list have been floated, officials said.  

Currently, all medicines and consumables are procured through the CPA. Hospitals are often out of stock, and drugs and other items unavailable to patients.

“It is difficult to deliver medicines to the hospitals within a few hours. The warehouses will stock up drugs for say six months in advance and replenish hospital supplies at short notice,” the official said.

Under the new system, a private agency will keep a tab on demands from hospitals through the centralised database.

“Once a request is sent, the agency will immediately process it and transport the necessary drugs to the hospital,” the official said. This will prevent hospital pharmacies from running out of stock.

The move comes after several hospitals repeatedly reported unavailability of drugs despite the tall promises made by the government.

At any given time, all medicines under the EML are not available with the hospitals, said doctors.

Th­e government is now planning to come up with a warehouse in Siraspur to stock medicines for a longer period of time.