E-Paper
Patients struggling to get in-person OPD consultation at PGIMER
Physical consultation at OPDs was restarted in June, but only for severely-ill patients who have taken appointment through tele-consultation
Patients suffering from non-Covid related chronic diseases are struggling to get in-person medical consultation at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER). Even though the number of Covid-19 patients admitted at the hospital has dropped sharply, the institute is yet to reopen walk-in outpatient departments (OPDs).
Patients have been travelling from neighbouring states to PGIMER everyday to get medical consultations, but most of them are unable to get appointment due to the tedious process.
Vijay Mishra, a resident of Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, said, “A few years back, I got operated for kidney stones at PGI. In June this year, I was diagnosed with small stones, but the doctors told me to get phone consultation . In severe pain, I visited the hospital on August 17, but was told to talk to the doctors through tele-consultation”,
“Since then, I have been visiting the new OPD’s waiting area everyday, hoping to get an appointment to see a doctor, but the phone numbers remain busy for most of the day. The security guard does not let me go inside the building as I do not have an appointment”, he added.
Another patient Bhir Singh, a resident of Panipat, said, “For the past few years, I have had a chest infection and visit the hospital once a year for treatment and checkups. However, I was not aware that the walk-in OPDs are shut and when I visited the hospital on Friday, the authorities didn’t allow me to see the doctor. The lady officer at the OPD’s registration counter misbehaves when patients visit without an appointment. Now, I am struggling to get connected through tele-medicine.”
“I wanted to consult the gynaecology department for the last eight months, but every time I discussed my problem with doctors on phone, they asked me to wait for another few months. They used to give me medicines, but it is of no use as they have not physically examined my condition. My problem is still persisting”, said Paramjeet Kaur, a resident of Moga.
The walk-in OPD facility at PGI was suspended in March last year amid the pandemic. Since then, the institute has been providing consultation through tele-consultation or mobile phones techniques.
However, from June 21 this year, physical consultations at OPDs was started again. But, the facility was made available for only severely-ill patients who had booked a prior appointment through tele-consultation.
‘Physical OPDs can further spread infection’
Pre-Covid, over 10,000 patients were visiting PGIMER’s OPDs daily. But now, only 2,000 to 2,500 are being called per day for physical consultation with prior appointments through tele-medicine.
PGIMER director Dr Jagat Ram said, “On August 19, around 2,471 people were given consultation in physical OPD while 2,195 were consulted through tele-medicine. On Friday, 2,106 were checked physically and 2,066 through tele-consultation. We understand people’s pain and try to see as many patients as we can, but we have no other option than to reopen OPDs in a phased manner”,
He added, “In the last ten days, Covid cases have increased again and crowded OPDs can further spread the infection. We ask doctors to treat emergency OPD patients, even without appointment. We do not have any plans to start a walk-in facility, but we will definitely keep on increasing physical OPD numbers regularly.”
TEDIOUS APPOINTMENT PROCESS: Most of the patients complain that the tele-consultation numbers of the hospital’s departments remain unreachable while others say that doctors do not give them appointment dates for physical OPDs.
