Nagpur Today : Nagpur News
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Nagpur:Maharashtra’s Medical Education Department has decided to come up with independent unit at Government Medical Colleges (GMCs) in Maharashtra for treating patients approaching hospital for want of immediate attention. This unit would be called EMS (Emergency Medical Service). It will be run on pilot basis at five cities in the State – Nagpur, Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad and Dhule.
Elaborating on this issue, Maharashtra Medical Education Minister Girish Mahajan informed local daily that, “There is a staff of 540 belonging to Public Health Department. Most of them do not have work assigned from both the departments- Medical Education and Public Health. So, we will give them work of handling EMS. The EMS will have separate wards, separate Intensive Care Unit (ICU), separate diagnostic facilities in the unit itself. This EMS will take care of the patients who need emergency attention. It will be run on pilot basis. If we succeed then it will be extended to other city GMCs too.”
Action on HIMS, to be replaced
Mahajan is aware about HIMS’s connection with OPD registration so he had given the work of checking HIMS’s feasibility to Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). The TISS expressed dissatisfaction over the functioning of HIMS. There are huge losses due to HIMS that swallowed up a lot of money. The investigation is underway and present Government is likely to take action against HIMS. “We will be re-tendering the work. It will be handed over to the agency selected by our panel. We will streamline the system so that neither patients nor our staff suffers,” stated firm Mahajan.
Coupon system to be introduced
A coupon system will be brought where people would pay the money and get the coupon with a number on it. The person could sit on the chair arranged near the OPD registration counter. The number of the patient written on his or her coupon would be displayed on the digital board and patient would collect the card that would direct him or her towards the respective department.
Docs to get iPads
Medical Education Ministry is thinking of replacing HIMS and to introduce much faster system. The manual system can not be brought back howsoever good was it. But the new system should provide faster results that is the only concern. The new system will run through optic fibre. Secondly, senior doctors would be given I-pad so that they would be available for the advice to their juniors. The sub-ordinates would send the reports to seniors even during night hours who would guide from home.
Committee formed for decentralising OPD registration
Minister has constituted a committee that would give recommendations for the decentralisation of Outpatient Department (OPD) in Government Medical Colleges (GMCs) in Maharashtra.
The centralised system of registration is time taking and added to the woes of patients or their relatives as they have to stand in queue for more than two hours.
Girish Mahajan told ‘The Hitavada’, “It makes me very painful that patients who all the way travel from far away town to any GMC and have to stand in queue. I immediately called on senior officials and took the decision of constituting committee. The committee is expected to submit the report suggesting the measures for decentralising the OPD registration.”
There is an inter-connection between OPD registration and Hospital Integrated Management Service (HIMS). The HIMS is also the factor that makes people stand in queue for longer time.
About 10 years ago, Maharashtra Government had introduced HIMS in all the hospitals and brought all the registration system on computer. Earlier everything was being done manually and it was much faster. The daily OPD is average 3,000 in any GMC in State. The number is inclusive of patients coming to Medicine department, Psychiatric department, Gynaecology, Orthopaedic, Skin, TB, Paediatric etc. If the separations of OPD registrations of all the departments is made then the burden would get lowered.
Nagpur to have independent unit for emergency medical treatment, Docs to get iPads
