How to conduct citizen-led Public Health Centre (PHC) audits

DIY Citizen Campaigns
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Our country’s public healthcare system has proven to be two-pronged. Around 2,30,000+ Primary Health Centres (PHCs) can manage 76% of the population at any given time, yet only a fraction of them can avail this service. Research shows that the lack of management is one of the main reasons why Public Healthcare Centres are rendered inoperable. Archana K.R. ran a PHC audit to highlight these nuances. Based on her learnings on the ground, here’s how you too can run a citizen-led Public Health Centre audit.


Step 1: Discover the role of PHCs in our community by reading about the services they are supposed to offer to citizens. Check out the resources below to learn more:

Step 2: Prepare a questionnaire using Google Forms that will highlight if a PHC is offering promised services or not. Questions can cover the following:

  1. General details of the PHC
  2. Human resources and staffing related
  3. Medical equipments and facility
  4. General infrastructure audit
  5. Information about processes followed by the PHC

Click here to checkout the questionnaire Archana used for her campaign


Step 3: Reach out to as many individuals as you can to audit the PHCs in their areas. You can use word of mouth, social media, emailers, Chatbot prompts, etc. Ask auditors to identify two or three PHCs that are closest to their vicinity. To discover these units they can:

  • Cycle/drive around the neighbourhood
  • Search online (for example, here)
  • Ask people in your neighbourhood


Step 4: Use the PHC audit form to record details of each Center that has been visited.


Step 5: Collate the data on one platform i.e. on a Google SPreadsheet or Excel sheet to consolidate and visualise the collected data points.


Step 6: Analyse your data and highlight important information like the following:

  • Three things that are working well
  • Three things that are not working, and so on…

Additionally, you can also talk to your local authorities about the consolidated observations. If you get here, you can even work out a plan with the authorities to uplift the PHC you’ve identified.


Step 7: Share your data and learnings on a public platform to inspire more people to audit their PHCs.


Disclaimer: This version of the DIY Solution does not include the challenges and impact that resulted from implementing this process. If you happen to try this out, please do share your experience.

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