Assessment of available health services as per Indian public health standards at sub-centers of Vadodara district of middle Gujarat, India

Background: Setting standards are a dynamic process. To provide quality care at sub-centers (SC), Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) standards are prescribed by Government of India. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the availability of health services provided by SCs of Vadodara district. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study carried out at SCs of Primary Health Centres (PHCs) using IPHS standards as a checklist. The assessment was made by visiting 40 SCs of Vadodara district in Gujarat by a single observer. Descriptive statistics were used to present data. Results: About 36 (90%) of the SCs were located within the village and 38 (95%) SCs were easily accessible. The median distance of SC from PHC was 6 km. About 72.5% of SCs were having designated government building. About 52.5% SCs had a residential facility for frontline health workers. Availability for most of the drugs was very poor (below 25% age). Records of oral contraceptive pills usages were available in 34 (85%) of the SCs. The antenatal care services were improved by up to 25% in 10 SCs, while it was decreased to 25% in 13 SCs. Conclusion: The gaps existed in the availability of facilities and its standards at sub-centers. The availability of physical infrastructure and furniture was poor. There was worsening of the performance indicators in the majority of the components as compared to previous year records.

Study on the availability of physical infrastructure and manpower facilities in sub-centers of Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

The sub-centers (SCs) are under constant criticism for their inability to deliver quality services due to the nonavailability of adequate infrastructure, manpower and supply of drugs.A cross-sectional study was conducted in Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh to assess the availability of physical infrastructure and manpower in the SCs. A total of 34 SCs were selected by multistage and stratified random sampling technique. The data was statistically analyzed by using Microsoft Excel. The deficiency in the availability of health workers male and female were found to be 67.7% and 27.5%, respectively. The residential facility for health workers was available only in 26.4% SCs. Only 20.6% of SCs had stethoscope and B.P apparatus. The physical infrastructure and manpower availability at the SCs needs considerable improvement as per the Indian Public Health Standard (IPHS). Facilities to conduct the normal delivery and 24-hours emergency referral services need to be addressed at the earliest.