From August 30, patients visiting the Advanced Eye Centre at PGIMER after registering online in advance will be given priority.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Dr SS Pandav, head, Advanced Eye Centre, said, “Eye patients can now use a new augmented facility to book online appointments for their walk-in OPD visits. This will eliminate the need to stand in long queues, enhancing convenience and streamlining the patient registration process.”
With the daily footfall increasing consistently, patients queue up hours before registration begins and OPD starts, sometimes as early as 7 am for the 9 am OPD. On average, the department has an inflow of 1,200 to 1,400 patients (old and new) daily, with 300 to 500 first-timers.
“We have increased the online registration number to 200 daily. The idea is to decongest the OPD, especially the morning hours. There are various slots for online registrations. While 80% of the follow-up patients use the online system, the idea is to encourage new patients to use the PGIMER website for registration, with the facility of booking an appointment seven days in advance,” explained Dr SS Pandav.
Online registration will be available from 8 am to 9.30 am, while in-person registration can be done from 9 am to 11 am.
“The intent is to fast-track the system, reduce the waiting time of patients, ease parking and congestion issues and discourage patients from queueing up hours before the department starts functioning,” added Dr Pandav.
{{/usCountry}}“The intent is to fast-track the system, reduce the waiting time of patients, ease parking and congestion issues and discourage patients from queueing up hours before the department starts functioning,” added Dr Pandav.
{{/usCountry}}Around 2000 patients wait for cornea at PGI annually
As the nation observes the 39th National Eye donation fortnight from August 25 to September 8, the campaign for it also kick-started at PGIMER on Tuesday.
The fortnight was inaugurated with the release of balloons jointly by chief guest Dr Vivek Lal, director, PGIMER, and Dr SS Pandav, head, Advanced Eye Centre, and president, Lions Club Central.
National Eye Donation Fortnight is a 15-day campaign celebrated every year by Government of India, wherein health institutes and other stakeholders are encouraged to campaign for mass public awareness of eye donation and to motivate citizens to pledge their eyes after death.
At PGIMER, around 2,000 patients are waiting for corneal transplantation, but the hospital gets only 400-450 corneas every year. The objective of this fortnight is to create mass public awareness to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of corneas. Another key aim of observing the fortnight is to debunk myths and fears surrounding eye donation.
This year, a lecture series will be organised for eye donation at schools, colleges and public places to spread awareness. In addition, competitions like poster-making, essay writing, reel-making and other activities on eye donation will also be organised in schools. The winners will be felicitated at Advanced Eye Centre during the concluding ceremony. A walk will also be organised on September 1, from Rock Garden to Sukhna Lake, to commemorate this event.
Steps to register
1. Visit the PGIMER website: pgimer.edu.in
2. Go to the “Patients” section and click “Online Registration”
3. Choose “New Registration”
4. You’ll be asked if you have a Central Registration (CR) number for PGIMER. Select “Yes” in case of revisit and “No” for new registration
5. Follow the instructions on the screen and click “Next” to proceed
6. Select the department (e.g., ophthalmology for eye care)
7. Choose a date for appointment and enter the patient’s personal details
7. Click “Register” to complete registration.