Hospital is an integral and core part of a healthcare delivery mechanism. It is an institution which provides healthcare services to patients through specially trained people (like doctors and nurses) who use medical science and sophisticated equipment and instrument. In addition to providing care, hospitals are also involved in training of medical professionals, medical research, prevention of diseases, promotion of health and rehabilitation.
1. DEFINITION
‘A hospital
is a residential establishment which provides short-term and long-term medical
care consisting of observational, diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative
services for persons suffering or suspected to be suffering from a disease or
injury or parturient. It may or may not also provide services for ambulatory on
an out-patient basis. (WHO expert committee)
A simpler definition
of a hospital is ‘an institution providing medical and surgical treatment and
nursing care for sick or injured people’
(Click here to read classification of hospitals)
2.
ROLES OF A
HOSPITAL
There are
multiple roles that a hospital can play. It is not necessary that every
hospital will play all the roles. These roles can be grouped as following
2.1. Restorative –
The restorative role includes all
activities and systems that are directed at curing the disease or injury that a
patient may be suffering from. The objective under restorative role is to restore
the health of a patient to his/her normal level, that is to the level which the
person was before contracting the disease or injury. For most of the
non-teaching hospitals, this is the dominant role and majority of their
resources are organized and used for fulfilling this role. Some of the
functions that a hospital performs for fulfilment of this role includes
2.1.1.
Diagnosis – This
includes laboratory or imaging technology used to identifying the specific
health problems of a patient
2.1.2.
Treatment –
Prescribing medicines, carrying out surgery or treating using specific equipment
so that the diagnosed problems can be treated
2.1.3.
Rehabilitate
– In cases where treatment cannot restore the health of patient
completely, rehabilitation is done to ensure that the patient can live his/her
life normally
2.1.4.
Emergency
care – These are treatment aimed at saving life or limb of a
patient which can be under threat due to acute health conditions such as
accident or poisoning
2.2. Preventive –
As against restorative, the
preventive role is not meant for curing, but from preventing a healthy person
from acquiring any specific kind of diseases. Preventive roles include
following functions
2.2.1.
Ante-natal
care – Regular check-ups done on pregnant women to monitor and
prevent any kind of complication that can happen due to pregnancy
2.2.2.
Child
growth and development monitoring – Regular check-ups of a growing
child to identify any problems and take preventive measures to ensure that
child do not develop any complication
2.2.3.
Immunization
– Providing various vaccines that can prevent a person from
acquiring a wide range of diseases
2.2.4.
Occupational
health monitoring – For people in specific occupation, a regular health
monitoring is done to prevent development of occupational diseases in them
2.2.5.
Health
check-ups – Regular health check-up can be considered as a preventive
role in which any diseases can be tracked at early stage and can be prevented
from becoming a major health concern
2.3. Educational –
Hospitals are also expected to
educate and train healthcare staff in specific aspects of health care. Many
hospitals are also attached to a university and function as a teaching hospital
(medical college hospital). Some of the functions that can be considered as
education role are
2.3.1.
Running a medical college
2.3.2.
Offering short-term courses for doctors, nurses,
technicians
2.3.3.
Offering continuing medical education for doctors
2.3.4.
Providing opportunities to students for doing
internship/training
2.4. Promotive –
Under promotive role, hospitals are
expected to promote good health behaviour amongst general population,
specifically to people living within its catchment area. During Covid time,
this was one of the major role played by all hospitals. Some of the functions
under this role include
2.4.1.
Organizing health awareness campaigns in residential
societies, schools, colleges etc.
2.4.2.
Providing educational materials on various diseases
2.4.3.
Providing counselling and advisories at individual or
group level
2.5. Research –
One of the very important roles
played by hospital is to offer itself as a platform for conducting various
kinds of medical research. Research is important to develop new tools and
techniques for fighting existing and emerging health issues. Following types of
research can be undertaken by a hospital
2.5.1.
Research
related to treatment – Such as developing new technique for surgery or
modifying a particular procedure to make it safe and effective
2.5.2.
Diagnostic
research – Developing new testing methods for diagnosing health
problems more accurately, safely and efficiently
2.5.3.
Public
health research – Discovering methods and tools to handle public health
problems
2.5.4.
Drug trials
– Conducting experiments for new drug formulations to establish its
efficacy and safety
2.5.5.
Medical
devices research – Conducting experiments for new medical devices to
establish its efficacy and safety
