department of health care department

1. DR.ANJALATCHI M.SC(N) MBA(HA) MD(AM)
ERA UNIVERSITY

2. DEFINITION OF
HOSPITAL
According to WHO, “Hospital is an integral part of social
medical organisation, the function of which is to provide for the
population complete healthcare, curative, preventive,
rehabilative and whose out patient services reach out to the
family and its home environment. The hospital is also a centre for
training of health workers and for bio-social research.”

4. CASUALTY
This department, also known as the accident and emergency
department deals with patients who have been brought in by an
ambulance in an emergency situation. Sometimes patients find
their own way to this department to in case they have had an
accident or seek immediate treatment.
This department works 24/7 and is equipped to deal with all sorts
of emergencies. The patients are assessed according to the degree
of injury or emergency and then provided immediate treatment
before being sent to a specialised department for further
treatment.
The Platt Report in 1962gave birth to the official title of “Accident
and Emergency Service”. This report stated the provisions that are
to be followed for the smooth functioning of this department.

5. CARDIOLOGY
The department as the name suggests deals with problems of the human
heart or circulation. It treats people on an inpatient and outpatient basis.
Some of their procedures include:
 Electrocardiogram (ECG) and exercise tests to measure the heart
function
 Ultrasound scan of the heart ( Echocardiogram)
 Scansof the carotid artery in the neck to determine risks of stroke
 Insertion of pacemakers
 Coronary angiography to see if there are any blocks in the arteries
 Medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary
artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and
electrophysiology
 Cardiac surgery

6. CRITICAL
CARE
Thisdepartment also known as the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
provides treatment for seriously ill patients.
Certain patients need to be isolated and require close and
individual medical attention.
The ICU has very
specialist doctors
few beds and is usually manned by
and nurses aswell as consultant
anaesthetists, physiotherapists and dieticians.
Patients can be transferred from any department to the ICU in
case the patient’s condition gets worse.

7. GENERAL
SURGERY
wideThis department as the name suggests includes a
variety of surgical procedures that include:
 Day surgery
 Thyroid surgery
 Kidney transplants
 Colon surgery
 Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal)
 Endoscopy
 Breast surgery
Day surgeries see a lot of patients coming in for minor surgeries such as
hernia repairs, piles, ... These procedures are normally performed by
general surgeons and do not normally require special surgeons.

8. MATERNITY/NEONATAL/
PAEDIATRICS
All facilities concerning giving birth and child care is provided in
this department. In some hospitals these can be divided into three
different departments but most general hospitals provide this care
under one department itself.
Some of the facilities or treatments include:
 Child birth
 Midwifery
 Antenatal and post natal care
 Pregnancy check ups
 Surgical procedures on children or mothers

9. GYNAECOLOGY
This department deals with the investigation and treatment of
problems of the female reproductive system.
Infertility,
problems
incontinence and endometritis are some of the
investigated in this department. Other services
include cervical smear screen and post-menopausal bleeding
checks.
This department usually has a special ward, day surgery unit, an
emergency gynaecology assessment unit and outpatient clinics.

10. ANEASTHETICS
Doctors in this department administer anaesthesia for patients for
various procedures and surgeries. They provide the following
services:
 Acute pain services post surgery
 Chronic pain services for patients suffering from bone related
illnesses like arthritis
 Critical care services for those suffering from trauma
 Obstetrics anaesthesia and analgesia like epidurals
during childbirth and anaesthesia for C-sections.

11. EARS, NOSE AND
THROAT
As the name suggests, this department deals with ailments
concerned with the Ear, nose and throat and it includes treatment
of a variety of ailmentslike:
 General ear, nose and throat diseases
 Neck lumps
 Cancers of the head and neck area
 Tear duct problems
 Facial skin lesions
 Balance and hearing disorders
 Snoring and sleep apnoea
 ENTallergyproblems
 Salivary gland diseases
 Voice disorders
 ENTsurgicalprocedures

12. NEUROLOGY
Neurology deals with the human nervous system. The doctors in
this department investigate and treat patients for problems that
affect their brain and spinal cord.
Surgical procedures on the brain and spinal cord are extremely
dangerous and require highly qualified and experienced doctors
and nurses to provide suchspecial care.
Neurologists examine patients who have been referred to them
by other physicians in both the inpatient and outpatient settings.
A neurologist will begin their interaction with a patient by taking
a comprehensive medical history, and then perform a physical
examination focusing on evaluating the nervous system.
Components of the neurological examination include
assessment of the patient's cognitive function, cranial nerves,
motor strength, sensation, reflexes, coordination, and gait.

13. OPTHALMOLOGY
This department deals with the investigation and treatment
of eye problems of adults and children. Their services
include:
 General eye clinic appointments
 Laser treatments
 Optometry
 Orthoptics
 Prosthetic eye services
 Ophthalmic imaging

14. ORTHOPEDICS
This department deals with problems that affect the
musculoskeletal system.
That includes treating bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and
nerves.
Services include bone setting, surgeries to repair damaged bones or
ligaments or tendons, replacing bones like hip replacement, knee
cap replacement ...
Other outpatient services also include treating fractures and
dislocated joints, musculoskeletal injuries and soft tissue injuries.

15. PSYCHIATRY
This department deals with investigating and treating patients
with a wide range of mental illnesses and disorders. Some services
include:
 Providing psychosocial counselling
 Investigating, diagnosing and treating psychiatric illnesses
 Conducting IQ tests
 Deaddiction services

16. OUTPATIENT
In this department people come to the hospital only for a consult
and not admission.
The patients seek medical advice from a specific department
depending on their problem and doctors provide a prescription of
medication for them to take for a certain periodof time.
Patients are then asked to come back for a follow up. Patient’s
treatment within the boundaries of the hospital lasts only a day.
Outpatient department runs for specific time during the day.
Consultant doctors are usually brought in to handle OPD.

17. INPATIENT
Thisdepartment admits patients at least overnight for treatment.
Here a case history of the patient will be taken and the patient
will have a case sheet in which hisprogress will be recorded.
Patients are monitored throughout the day by nurses and doctors
come on rounds to check on the patients conditions.
The duration of stay will depend on severity of the patient’s
illness.

18. OTHER MEDICAL
DEPARTMENT
 Pulmonary department
 Dermatology
 Dentistry
 Gastrology
 Urology
 Oncology
 Geriatrics

20. CENTRAL
STERILIZATION UNIT
(CSSD)
This department is in charge of keeping all the instruments used in
the hospital clean and sterilised to avoid spreading of infections
throughout the hospital.
They follow a strict procedure for sterilizing medical and surgical
instruments.

21. PHYSIOTHERAPY
Thisdepartment aims at rehabilitating patients.
Mostly linked to the orthopaedics department this department
offers a wide range of body healing therapies that will help a
patient resume normal functioning.
Thisdepartment offers outpatient as well as inpatient services.

22. PHARMACY
 which provides drugs for the entire hospital. It not only
provides medication for patients but also provides other
drugs and instruments used by all the departments in the
hospital for patient care or surgeries... Run by a pharmacist
the pharmacy provides the following services:
 Purchase, supply and distribution of medication
and pharmaceuticals
 Inpatient and outpatient dispensing
 Clinical and ward pharmacy
 Doctors are usually given a formulary of medication
by the pharmacy to use as a guide.
Every hospital must be equipped with a pharmacy

23. DIAGNOSTIC
IMAGING
Also known as the department of radiology, this department
provides the following services:
 General radiology (X-rays)
 Scansfor Accidents and Emergency
 Mammography (breast scans)
 Ultrasound scans
 Angiography (x-ray of blood vessels)
 Interventional Radiology (minimal invasive procedures)
 CTscanning
 MRI scanning (3Dscansusing magnetic and radio waves)
Patients are sent to this department for the above mentioned services as other
departments do not have the required devices to perform diagnostic imaging.
After the service is provided, reports will be given about the imaging and that
report will have to be handed over to the department from which the imaging
was requested.

24. NUTRITION AND
DIETITICS
This department is manned with specialist in nutrition and dietetics. They are
assigned to provide professional advice on diet for hospital inpatient wards
as well as outpatient departments.
Certain departments require that the patient be put on a diet and therefore
the team works with many other departments thattreat:
 Diabetes
 Cancer
 Kidney problems
 Paediatrics
 Elderly care
 Surgery and critical care
 Gastroenterology
These specialists can also suggest a dietary chart to be followed by the
hospital canteen to ensure that all patients get nutritious food during their
stay at the hospital.

25. MEDICAL SOCIAL
WORK
This department manned with medical social
workers help patients and their families deal
with a broad range of psychosocial issues and stresses related to
coping with illness and maintaining health.
This department addresses the challenges families face, increase
accessibility to healthcare, and serves as a bridge between the
doctors and the individual, family, and community.

26. HOUSEKEEPING
Thisdepartment isin charge of keeping the hospital clean and neat.
It involves doing the laundry and cleaning all the rooms of the
hospital and effectively disposing of medical waste according to
strict hospital disposal procedures.
CATERING AND
FOOD SERVICES
Thisdepartment provides food servicesto inpatients, their families
and staff of thehospital based on a nutritional menu provided by the
Nutrition Department.

28. ADMINISTRATION
This department is in charge of looking after the day to day
operations of thehospital.
They look after all the paper work of hospital and ensure that
every department follows administrative procedures of the
hospital.

29. MEDICAL
RECORDS
This department deals with recording, and maintaining all the
records/files of inpatients as well as outpatients.
It is with these records that medical statistics can be formulated and
it serves as a reference for future purposes.

30. MEDICAL MAINTENANCE &
ENGINEERING
Thisdepartment makes sure that the hospital isin operable
condition.
It makes plans and carries out various projects
for the hospital.
This department makes sure that all electrical
facilities are in perfect condition, carries out
repair and replacement work for air-conditioning units,
plumbing, steel works, and general takes care of the
overall maintenance of the hospital.

31. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
& COMMUNICATION
All hospitals today use computers to keep track of patient records
and other medically related affairs.
Therefore this department is in charge of providing technical
support as when needed and keep the systems updated and
provide support when systems crash.
They also aim to provide effective online services for patients and
help to keep the entire hospital informed of certain events that
take place within the hospital.

32. HUMAN
RESOURCES
This department is given the objective of recruiting efficient
human resources for the hospital.
It also has the duty of creating policies and procedures that the
staff have to follow in the hospital.
It aims at ensuring employee satisfaction, good working
conditions and provision of monetary and non monetary
benefits for the employees.
It is also responsible for providing compensation for the services
rendered by the employees.

33. FINANCE
Thisdepartment looks after the financial aspects of the hospital.
They make budgets, financial plans for the future and allocate
financial resources to the various departments of the hospital for
their upgradation.
They also provide wage statements for the staff and oversee
purchases of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals for the hospital.