The Telangana Health department is moving towards a major revamp of the Integrated Hospital Facility Management Services (IHFMS) to address persistent gaps in sanitation, security and patient support services across government hospitals, with a significant increase in per-bed tariff and manpower strength on the anvil, according to Director of Medical Education (DME) A. Narendra Kumar.
IHFMS is a government-run outsourcing system that manages non-clinical services in government hospitals, including sanitation, housekeeping, biomedical and general waste disposal, security, patient care assistants, pest control and related facility services. Under the model, hospitals pay a fixed per-bed tariff to a single agency, which in turn deploys a prescribed number of workers per 100 beds to ensure cleanliness, safety and basic patient support
Under the existing IHFMS framework, hospitals have 45 outsourced workers per 100 beds, comprising 19 sanitation workers, 13 security personnel and 13 patient care assistants. Dr. Narendra Kumar said the government is now planning to strengthen this structure by increasing manpower, revising qualification norms and raising tariff rates to reflect rising operational costs.
The IHFMS policy, first introduced in 2017 and revised in 2022, will undergo another revision in 2026. As part of the proposed changes, the per-bed tariff is expected to be increased from the current level of around ₹7,500 to approximately ₹9,500. The hike factors in inflation and the escalating costs of consumables such as cleaning chemicals and other essential materials used in hospital maintenance.
“The earlier revision in 2022 raised the tariff from ₹5,600 to about ₹7,500 per bed. Since then, costs have continued to rise, making another revision unavoidable,” Dr. Narendra Kumar said. The revised proposal has been placed before the Health Minister. Once cleared, it will be sent to the Finance Department for approval.
Dr. Narendra Kumar also pointed to shortcomings in pest and rodent control under the current system, noting that only Agriculture Department-certified personnel are authorised to carry out such work. “This norm is not being followed uniformly, leading to ineffective pest control in several hospitals. As part of the revised IHFMS guidelines, stricter enforcement of certification requirements and improved chemical usage will be mandated,” he added.
Published – February 02, 2026 05:10 pm IST
