Mangaluru : Wenlock District Hospital won the second place in the Kayakalp Award under the Swachh Bharat Mission launched by the Prime Minister. The award was received by Wenlock Hospital Superintendent Dr Rajeshwari Devi H R from Union Minister for Health at New Delhi on Wednesday.

To recognise the efforts of ensuring good quality public health facilities, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, has launched a national initiative to give the award ‘Kayakalp’ to public health facilities that demonstrate high levels of cleanliness, hygiene and infection control.

To recognise the efforts of ensuring good quality public health facilities, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, has launched a national initiative to give the award ‘Kayakalp’.

The award will be given to public health facilities that demonstrate high levels of cleanliness, hygiene and infection control. The award aims to provide incentive to and recognise such public healthcare facilities as well as to inculcate a culture of ongoing assessment and peer review of performance related to hygiene, cleanliness and sanitation.

The Kayakalp project was implemented under Swachh Bharath Mission in 20 district hospitals in Karnataka in 2015-16. As per the guidelines of the government, a district- level Kayakalp award nomination committee that would be guided by the DC was constituted.

The medical officers and administrative staff of Wenlock Hospital formed an internal ‘Kayakalp’ committee, in a bid to achieve the award. The committee evaluated the hospital. In the second phase, the inter-district evaluation committee inspected the hospital without any prior intimation, but, the Wenlock Hospital retained its top position.

Based on the report, the state-level external evaluation committee that paid a surprise visit to the hospital on September 28, 2015 to verify the functioning of all the departments, submitted its report to National Arogya Abhiyan Committee. The hospital had to be satisfied with second place, as it lost a few marks due to the functioning of the hospital from an old building.