Spl drive boosts services at 16K health units in UP

Lucknow: A six-month-long statewide inspection drive has pushed UP health department to tighten monitoring of hospitals and health centres, with officials claiming visible improvement in service quality, accountability and availability of facilities at govt medical units.

Under the State Review Mission launched by the state govt on Oct 29, 2025, over 16,000 health units across all 75 districts were inspected to identify gaps in infrastructure, manpower, medicines and patient services.

Officials said the campaign has led to stricter monitoring, surprise inspections and regular reviews, resulting in faster corrective action at several institutions and improved delivery of healthcare services, particularly in rural and remote areas.

Additional chief secretary, medical health and family welfare, Amit Kumar Ghosh, said the govt was working to ensure quality and free healthcare closer to people’s homes.

According to National Health Mission director and health secretary Dr Pinky Jowel, 16,249 of the state’s 33,044 medical units — nearly 49% — were inspected during the campaign.

The inspections covered 93 district hospitals, 861 community health centres, 2,825 primary health centres, 12,405 health sub-centres and Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, 50 special hospitals and 15 medical colleges.

A total of 901 divisional and district-level officers and 43 state-level officers were involved in the inspection process.

Officials said a specially designed “Facility Observation Checklist” was used to assess infrastructure, availability of medicines and equipment, ambulance services, human resources and record management. Feedback from patients was also collected to evaluate the actual quality of services.

The campaign also included inspection of 2,661 chief minister Arogya Health Melas organised at primary health centres to improve healthcare access in villages and remote regions.

Health department officials said in some divisions, a second phase of inspections has already started to further strengthen monitoring and improve service standards.