| Abstract |
Background: Through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a company achieves a balance of economic, environmental and social objectives and is also mandated by Indian law. CSR can help in strengthening healthcare in public hospitals catering to the needy population. Aims: This study documents the various CSR activities going on in a large tertiary care teaching and public hospital in a metropolitan city, challenges in their implementation and effectiveness of such activities. Materials and Methods: Cross sectional questionnaire based descriptive study in a large public hospital in Mumbai, India. A questionnaire was distributed to nine departments which had received CSR support in the year 2017-18. Details recorded were the kind of initiatives and amount received, difficulties faced in implementation, mode of implementation, its effectiveness and number of people benefitted by the activity. Results: In all, companies have provided a total funding of Rs.10,18,24,940 in a year. Difficulties were faced due to lack of knowledge of the procedure and clear guidelines for CSR implementation. Approximately 84,251 indoor patients and 20,77,146 OPD patients were directly or indirectly benefited by these activities. Conclusions: Public hospitals are best settings where companies can implement their CSR activities for healthcare of the poorer sections of society, thus fulfilling their social obligations in a fruitful way. In view of the advantages of CSR, a dedicated CSR department and guidelines for CSR utilisation need to be set up with adequate expertise and responsibilities. |
