Chandigarh: Month on, delay in execution of Digi Seva at PGIMER leaves patients hassled
Encouraged by the rapid adoption of the Digi Seva system at its Liver Clinic, PGIMER had decided to expand the initiative to three more departments and had announced regarding the same on February 15, 2025
Despite the launch of Digi Seva service for Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research’s (PGIMER) skin, orthopaedics and endocrinology departments a month ago, the follow-up patients are not able to avail its benefits pointing to a delay in its implementation.
Encouraged by the rapid adoption of the Digi Seva system at its Liver Clinic, PGIMER had decided to expand the initiative to three more departments and had announced the same on February 15, 2025.
Digi Seva offers benefits like priority consultations, seamless online appointment booking, automated notifications and optimised hospital workflow. It reduces administrative burdens and enhances transparency, allowing medical professionals to dedicate more time to patient care.
In the manual system, follow-up and new patients wait in the same queue for consultation, whereas, in the Digi Seva system a separate room is dedicated for online follow-up patients only.
Indu, from Daddumajra, a follow-up patient of the orthopaedics department, said she was not aware of any such system. Waiting for Dr Sandeep Patel’s consultation in room number 2006, she mentions no separate queues or rooms are there for follow-up patients. “I reached here around 9 am and it took me two hours to get a stamp on my central registration (CR) number card and then I waited further for my turn for the consultation,” she added.
Another patient waiting for her turn said that it was hard to follow from which room the names were being called as the card of one patient can go to any room. Sometimes names get missed also, given the rush. “CR numbers, which help to keep a trace of who is next in the line for consultation, were also not displayed, thus adding to the trouble,” she added.
Digi Seva was initially launched on a pilot basis for the Liver Clinic run by the department of hepatology on January 10, 2025. In one month, approximately 450 patients registered through this system, demonstrating its success and patient acceptance. Considering its success in the hepatology department, it was decided to expand the initiative.
An official spokesperson of PGIMER said the online registration system for follow-up patients is being run smoothly in the hepatology department. As far as the other three departments are concerned, they are in the process of implementing it. There are technicalities involved in it that they are working on, he added.