Govt spend in health sector, insurance cover must improve: Rupali Basu

Growing up in Durgapur, Rupali Basu, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Region at Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited, is greatly admired for her role in health and hospital management.

A medical graduate from R G Kar Medical College, Kolkata and post-graduate in Health and Hospital Management from Delhi and Harvard University, Basu holds key positions in almost a dozen institutions of Eastern India. She is the President of the Association of Hospitals in Eastern India; Vice-President of Welfare Society for the Blind, Kolkata and Executive Council member of ICC and CII(Eastern Region). She is also the Chairperson of ICC National Expert Committee on Healthcare, Chairperson of the Women Empowerment Task Force of CII(Eastern Region); Co-Chairperson of Sector Committee on Health, Education and Skill, Government of West Bengal and Member of Steering Committee on Industry, Government of West Bengal. Basu has travelled to many countries and led industrial delegations on behalf of the CII. She also serves as an independent director on the Board of Tata Steel Processing and Distribution Ltd and Visa Power Ltd.

Although she has been in the profession for more than nineteen years, she never gave up on her dreams of designing. Inspired by her father, Basu is passionate about designing saris and has conducted several exclusive exhibitions at several places in the city and all proceeds go to charity. Basu is also the Editor of a fortnightly Bengali language Women magazine Ajker Sampurna’.

My involvement with the National Cadet Corps in school aroused an interest in nation-building. This prompted me to take up Preventive and Social Medicine (PSM) as my specialization - and that meant working towards improving the standard of available medical service.

After graduating from medical college, I specialized in public health and was a topper at the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health. After observing the environment while working as a house staff there, I realized that proper hospital management could change the health care system in India and took up hospital management in the 1990s when such a concept barely existed in India.

Calcutta is the city of my choice with a vision to transform the healthcare scenario.

The State Government has taken a number of initiatives which focuses on transforming the face of healthcare in West Bengal. Some of them include, creation of 41 new super- speciality hospitals in West Bengal of which 32 have already been inaugurated, free indoor treatment for everyone at Government hospitals, setting up diagnostic units at rural hospitals, mobile medical units in Jangalmahal and closed tea gardens in the state, community delivery centres in relay mode in remote areas such as islands of Sundarbans and promoting private-public partnership(PPP) in medical and nursing education. It has also invited private hospitals to take in medical students, but this is yet be legalised.

 

The State has already taken a number of path-breaking initiatives as outlined above. However, the focus should be on the shortage of doctors and lack of penetration in rural areas, shortage of manpower and technicians and high per capita expenditure. It is an irony that a considerable portion of seats remains vacant every year due to lack of multi-institution coordination. The State may address this problem by streamlining the process of post-graduate medical education through a Committee which will coordinate between Supreme Court, MCI, Central Government and State Government. Emphasis should be given on insurance and other schemes. Quality accreditation in Government hospitals will be an added advantage to ensure patient’s safety and good clinical outcomes.

 

A major step will be to create awareness about the super-speciality clinical care that is available in the region. Apollo Gleneagles Hospital launched the first Oncology Centre in 2010 with the state of the art technology like NovalisTx and Robotics. Three Tesla MRIs, Neuro Navigation and Brain Lab are also available in West Bengal now. Awareness must also be created about cost differentials, without compromising the quality of care and clinical outcome.

 

The health care spending in India is only 4.7 percent (World Bank report 2014). It needs to increase as the percentage is really less as compared to countries like UK (9 per cent) and the US (17 perc ent).  Financial access has to be improved through extensive insurance cover and healthcare resource gaps have to be filled. Next, workforce shortages have to be reduced; public health facilities should be strengthened and early treatment of the diseases should be done.  I believe telehealth services should be extensively used as this platform can truly transform India’s healthcare system.

 

Apollo has a robust presence across the healthcare spectrum. The group has emerged as the foremost integrated healthcare provider in Asia. The difference lies in the philosophy that we subscribe to. We prioritise our patients and believe in prevention rather than cure. Taking cognizance of the undeniable fact that India is reeling under the onslaught of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs), the Apollo Group has assumed the responsibility to educate and influence the mindset. Increased focus on initiatives like personalised preventive healthcare bears testimony to this new thrust.

 

This is done through our state -of- the- art infrastructure, cutting edge clinical technology, the scope for academics and research, national presence, quality policies and national and international brand presence.

 

Insurance penetration, which is currently about 25 percent, needs to be increased significantly to make healthcare facilities accessible to a larger section of the society. Also, we need our government to introduce other schemes promising an increase in accessibility for the economically weaker section.

 

The increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is the main problem plaguing India. Some of them are cardio-vascular diseases (hypertension and ischaemic heart disease), stroke, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory disorders. In addition, most of the lung cancers’ cases are reported from West Bengal. Almost 62 percent of NCD deaths are caused by heart diseases and strokes. In order to prevent them, early detection through preventive health checks is absolutely necessary.

 

Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals currently runs a 660-bedded super speciality hospital in Kolkata, and intends to add 120 beds in the Institute of Gastro-Sciences and Liver in the next six months. Given the prevalence of gastroenterological and liver diseases and a dearth of dedicated single-speciality hospitals in the region, this move comes as a great service for the patients in the region. We are also in the process of evaluating both green-field and brown-field proposals for setting up a hospital in South Kolkata with two to three hundred beds. Further, we have acquired a 14 acre plot in Batanagar, for a proposed 750-bedded medical college with an intake of 150 medical graduates. Over the next five years, our plan is to get 1000 beds here.

We have made it our mission to support sports in Bengal. Sports are vital in keeping our community fit. Most of the NCDs – heart diseases and diabetes result from a sedentary lifestyle. We are therefore focussing on prevention and there is no better way to do it than getting more people involved in sports and an active lifestyle. We have provided first-aid kits for 18 CAB-affiliated clubs, entered into an emergency medical partnership with both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal Clubs and I-League matches. We are the exclusive medical partners of Atlético de Kolkata for ISL 2015, covering all home and practice matches, and with ICC for all the T 20 World Cup 2016 matches played here. Recently, we have also promoted the game of darts through Apollo Eagles.

 

These activities enable us to connect with people and the community on a wider scale. For instance, when we presented the film ‘Praktan’, we understood that it was about relationships, something that we focussed on at the hospital as well. The concept of ‘Hete Dekho Kolkata’ or ‘Let’s Walk, Kolkata’ also had a fitness angle. Recently, we also presented ‘Stone’, an exhibition of photographs on architecture, in an initiative honouring the quintessential rickshaw pullers of Kolkata.

My point was to address today’s stress-filled lifestyle. It is important for a woman to be equally careful about her body and her mind. Hence, a wellness magazine for women becomes an ideal way to communicate with millions of them. It lets them feel good, keeps them informed about wellness, beauty, fashion, literature, media and entertainment, home décor, enables a stress-free lifestyle and provides our best doctor’s advice to stay well. My editorial journey, which started from my school days, was the first push in this regard.

 

First, recognize your strength and then back it up with unending hard work. Increasing demand is driving the world now and unfortunately, there are only 24 hours in a day. Hence, we need to stretch ourselves to the fullest. Being physically and mentally strong is, therefore the precursor of life.