Telangana Health Minister Orders End to Unnecessary Patient Referrals, Strengthen District Hospitals

Telangana Health Minister C. Damodar Raja Narasimha has issued a stern warning to government hospitals across the state against referring patients to higher-level facilities for minor ailments when the required treatment is available locally. The Minister directed officials to take strict action against those continuing the practice, which he said causes inconvenience to patients and adds pressure on tertiary care hospitals.

The directions were issued during a review meeting on Saturday, August 22, 2026, to assess the performance, medical services, infrastructure, human resources and equipment of government hospitals under the Directorate of Secondary Healthcare (DSH) in Hyderabad.

Minister warns against old referral system

The Minister noted that the practice of referring patients unnecessarily had already changed in several government hospitals, but it had come to his notice that some facilities were still following the old system. He directed officials to ensure that patients were referred to higher-level hospitals only when there is a valid medical reason.

In cases where a patient needs to be shifted to another hospital during an emergency, the receiving hospital should be informed in advance and coordination established with its doctors, the Minister said. He emphasised that unnecessary referrals not only cause inconvenience to patients but also add to the pressure on tertiary care hospitals.

Strengthen district hospitals for local treatment

The Minister said that Community Health Centres (CHCs), Area Hospitals (AHs) and District Hospitals (DHs) should be strengthened and developed into full-fledged medical centres capable of performing major surgeries and providing a wider range of services locally. He added that District and Area Hospitals have the potential to provide medical services to people on par with teaching hospitals.

To support this, the Minister said that 607 Assistant Professor posts were being filled in teaching hospitals, while 1,616 specialist doctors had been recruited for District Hospitals, Area Hospitals and CHCs. He directed District Coordinators of Health Services (DCHSs) to ensure the optimum utilisation of doctors, staff, beds, equipment and diagnostic facilities available in each hospital.

Surprise inspections ordered

The Minister also ordered DCHSs to conduct surprise inspections of every hospital under their jurisdiction at least once a week instead of relying only on reports submitted from the field. During the inspections, officials were asked to verify whether doctors and staff were reporting for duty on time, patients were receiving timely treatment, equipment was functional and medicines, diagnostic tests and scans were available.

Datos clave

Why this matters for Hyderabad residents

For residents of Hyderabad and surrounding districts, this directive aims to reduce the burden on major tertiary care hospitals in the city, such as Gandhi Hospital and Osmania General Hospital. Patients with conditions that can be treated at their local District or Area Hospital will no longer need to travel long distances to Hyderabad for care. This could mean faster treatment, lower travel costs and less overcrowding at city hospitals. The recruitment of over 2,200 doctors across various levels also signals a push to improve staffing at local facilities, which has been a long-standing concern.

Source: The Hindu – Hyderabad – https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/stop-unnecessary-referrals-district-hospitals-must-treat-more-patients-locally-says-telangana-health-minister/article71378185.ece