The Medical Department of South Central Railway is an integral part of Indian Railway Medical Services. The Department renders preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative services to a population of about 500 thousand, spread over the length and breadth of the South Central Railway System.In 1966 the medical services of SCR consisted of 4 divisional hospitals and 40 health units with 148 doctors and 463 beds. Today, the Medical Department boasts of one Zonal Hospital, 2 Divisional Hospitals, 2 Sub-divisional Hospitals, one Poly Clinic and 44 Health Units with a total of 684 beds and 161 Doctors.
Functions of Medical Department
- To provide comprehensive health care through preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative services to all the beneficiaries.
- To attain an optimum level of positive health in the workforce which renders them productive and useful to the organization.
- To assess the physical fitness of the candidates aspiring to join Railways and also to conduct periodical medical examination of serving employees to assess their sustained fitness.
- To render medical aid to passengers falling sick during travel.
- To provide immediate medical aid and succor to victims of Railway accidents.
- To monitor quality of water and food supply to the Railway population as well as Rail commuters.
- To maintain environmental sanitation of 48 Railway colonies and 32 identified Railway stations.
- To conduct research activities for chalking out various strategies to provide better medical care to the Railway employees, their families and the travelling public.
- To conduct studies in the field of Occupational Health and family Welfare for identifying various health problems and sustainable strategies to combat them.
- To impart training to the doctors as well as para-medical staff to update their knowledge of patient care, preventive health etc.
Mission
Total patient satisfaction through Humane Approach and Shared Commitment of every single Doctor and Paramedic to provide Quality Health Care using modern and cost effective techniques and technologies.
Beneficiaries
- All serving Railway employees and their dependants
- Retired Railway employees, who are enrolled in Retired Railway Employees Health Schemes
- Passengers who fall sick during travel
- Rail accident victims
- Licensed Porters
- Railway Police Personnel
Infrastructure
Facility Total no.
Hospitals
Zonal | 1 |
Divisional | 2 |
Sub-divisional | 2 |
Ploy Clinics | 1 |
Health Units | 44 |
Beds | 694 |
Doctors | 161 |
Para-medical staff | 977 |
Sanitary staff | 2307 |
Centers of Excellence
The Zonal Hospital, Lallaguda
- Is equipped with a state-of-the-art 10 bedded ICCU supported by Holter Monitor, Tread Mill, Colour Doppler, Telemetry ECG and facility for temporary pace making
- Provides Haemodialysis, which is an end stage conservative management for patients with Renal Disease
- Has a Neo-natal Intensive care Unit supported by Incubators to look after the newborn babies
- Was awarded the prestigious L N Mishra Shield for the best overall performance over the Indian Railways during the years 1981-82, 1984-85, 1993-94 and 1998-99.
- Has been recognised by the Medical Council of India for providing training in Diploma in National Board for Surgery and Medicine. The Hospital provides training for students, House Surgeons and Interns from Deccan Medical College, Hyderabad.
Railway Hospitals, Vijayawada and Guntakal
- Divisional Hospitals have Treadmill, ECG, Ventilators, Pulse-oxymeter, Blood Gas Analyser and Ultra Sound facilities. Blood banks with screening facilities for HIV are also available.
- Provides training to Sr. House Surgeons.
Levels of Health Care & Facilities
Medical facilities are broadly extended in a 3 tier fashion to the beneficiaries viz., Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. Primary Health Care is made available in all the Health Units i.e. diagnosis, treatment of common diseases, preventive health services, monitoring of quality of water and food, health education, mother & child health services, immunisation, family welfare services etc. Persons who require secondary level care are referred to either Sub-divisional Hospitals or Divisional Hospitals. A patient will be referred to Zonal Hospital for tertiary care, if super specialty treatment is required.Railway Hospitals at various places have tie-ups with local super-specialty hospitals for necessary management of the patients who require such services. These tie-ups are extended even for sophisticated investigations like CT Scan, MRI etc.
Disaster ManagementSouth Central Railway has well laid out accident preparedness in way of Accident Relief Medical Equipment (ARME), provided at strategic locations. The ARMEs are of two types viz., Scale I and Scale II. Scale I is a Railway coach containing an Operation Theatre, necessary drugs, equipment, linen and other utility items like Raincoats, gum boots, umbrellas, troches, stretchers etc. The Scale II equipment comprises of three POMKA boxes and other necessary equipment that contain the items enumerated above kept in the room at important stations to be moved at the time of major accidents. In addition there is the Portable Medical Kit for Accidents provided at Health Units. There are 11 ARMEs of Scale I, 20 ARMEs of Scale II and POMKAS have been provided to all 44 Health Units over the entire zone. 13 Model Stations and 15 long distance trains have been identified over this zone for provision of Augmented First Aid Facilities. The upgraded First Aid boxes have already been provided.
Training in First Aid
St. John Ambulance Brigade comprising of 32 Ambulance divisions with 275 personnel is actively involved in rendering First Aid during accidents and also imparts training courses to the employees as well as their family members in First Aid.
Preventive Services
Environmental sanitation of 32 identified Railway stations and 45 Railway colonies is maintained by the Medical Department. The Deputy Chief Medical Director, Health & Family Welfare co-ordinates this huge task with a cadre of 61 Health Inspectors, 1575 Safaiwallas and other staff.
The Medical Department conducts health and family welfare programs to reach the farthest beneficiary. In recognition of its best performance over Indian Railways, South Central Railway was awarded the annual Family Welfare Shield for 18 times since its inception in 1966. The Department has also contributed richly to Pulse Polio coverage by extending the service to both Railway and Non-Railway children.
Water samples in Railway colonies and Railway stations are collected and are analysed for bacteriological quality. Necessary corrective measures are initiated if there is any unsatisfactory result. Food samples are also collected under Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. If unsatisfactory results are found, the offenders are suitably punished. The mineral water sold at Railway caterings and other vending units in Railway stations are also analysed for quality and punitive action is taken if the samples do not conform to the standards.