The Telangana government on Friday, 5 August, announced that it would stop the ₹11,000 incentive that was being given to private hospitals and nursing homes through the Aarogyasri Scheme for Caesarean-section (C-section) operations during delivery.
During an interaction with healthcare staff at the Maternity Hospital in Petlaburj on Friday, Health Minister T Harish Rao said the C-section incentive was becoming a hurdle for normal deliveries.
“That’s why we have decided to stop it: to prevent unwanted C-section deliveries,” Rao told the healthcare workers.
Reduction in C-section deliveries
The minister said that in government hospitals, 45 percent of the deliveries were taking place through C-section operations, while 55 percent were normal deliveries.
In private hospitals and nursing homes, that number was 80 percent for C-section operations and 20 percent for normal deliveries, he added.
“The percentage of normal delivery should decrease in government and private sectors. Earlier, 75 percent of all deliveries in government hospitals were via C-section operations. We were able to reduce it to 45 percent. Let’s move towards a healthier Telangana,” said the minister.
He added that at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, the health department had managed to reduce C-sections to just 22 percent.
“Strict auditing of the C-section rates will be conducted at all the government and private hospitals. An audit should also be done on the referrals. A review should be conducted as to why the referral was made. Do not make referrals [for C-section] except in extreme cases,” said the minister.
Incentives for health staff
The health minister also announced that a Team-Based Incentive (TBI) of ₹3,000 per delivery would be paid to the staff for normal deliveries performed over and above the benchmark of deliveries.
Out of the total money, ₹1,000 would be given to the medical officer, ₹1,000 to the midwife or staff nurse, ₹500 to sanitation workers, ₹250 to the ANM staff, and ₹250 to the ASHA worker.
