LUCKNOW, May 15 -- Minister of state (independent charge) for Ayush, food safety, and drug administration Dayashankar Mishra chaired a virtual review meeting and directed the principals of all colleges and the superintendents of 50-bed Integrated Ayush Hospitals to ensure regular availability of medicines within their facilities, on Thursday. All ongoing construction work within college hostels must be completed in a timely manner, the minister said. He stressed that special attention be paid to the quality of these work, warning that strict action would be taken against individuals found negligent in ensuring established standards. The minister stated that priority must be given to procuring common medicines and those for which there is a high demand. He emphasised that there should be absolutely no shortage of medicines in the hospitals, a press statement issued by the office of the minister read. Mishra further directed that hospitals should strive to treat the maximum possible patients visiting the outpatient departments (OPD). He urged the medical staff to make concerted efforts to further enhance the volume and efficiency of OPD services. He also suggested organising medical camps-facilitated through the involvement of local public representatives-to provide Ayush-based medical treatment to patients. He strictly instructed the doctors never to prescribe medicines from outside the hospital to patients visiting the OPD. The minister also called for special attention to be paid to the inpatient departments (IPD) of the hospitals. He emphasised that IPD patients should receive high-quality care to ensure a speedy recovery and early discharge. He directed that the infrastructure and facilities within the operation theatres (OT) of all hospitals be strengthened to enable the performance of a greater number of minor surgeries....