KATHMANDU, Jan 13: The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has issued a referral guideline for patients in emergency and hospitalized conditions, making the primary health institutions responsible for referring the patients.
Until the patient is admitted to another hospital, the responsibility for coordination will remain with the hospital where the patient first arrived.
Spokesperson Prakash Budhathoki said that although there are criteria for referring different types of patients, the ministry has issued a unified guideline to cover the entire referral system of hospitals.
On August 11, Minister for Health and Population Pradip Paudel announced his plan and priorities, stating that emergency life-saving treatment should be initiated immediately at any health center without any inquiries and if certain treatments are not possible, the responsibility of ensuring service at the nearest center and facilitating a safe referral would lie with the concerned health facility.
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The Secretariat of Minister Paudel said that the guidelines were issued based on the same point.
Minister Paudel said that its purpose is to protect the lives of patients and manage pressure in hospitals. He said that the ministry is trying to ensure that patients receive treatment without any delay after they arrive at hospitals.
According to the guideline, if the treatment of emergency and admitted patients is not possible, the first hospital will be responsible until they are transferred to another hospital. According to this, the first point hospital will have to refer to the nearest hospital only for treatment that is not possible there.
Similarly, before referring a patient, the primary healthcare institution must coordinate with the concerned hospital to ensure the availability of treatment, beds, and necessary services.
The guideline mandates the establishment of referral units at every hospital at the local, provincial, and national levels.
As the guideline ensures the sharing of necessary information regarding the patient, arrangements have been made to avoid repeated tests and to facilitate further examinations.
The guideline has been issued to refer patients only on the basis of need in order to reduce the increasing pressure in government hospitals. The guideline that gives patients full authority to decide where they want to seek treatment, aims to regulate the referral process from hospitals as long as treatment is possible.
The referral units arranged at the local, provincial, and federal levels are expected to provide guidance to health institutions regarding the quality of healthcare in those areas and the referral process, according to the ministry's Spokesperson Dr Prakash Budathoki.
