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With the number of patients getting physically examined at outpatient departments (OPDs) of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) rising by 67% over a week, the institute will call a review meeting in a week to decide upon the operations.

The PGIMER had resumed the walk-in facility for physical consultation at its OPDs on September 27. Since then, in the six working days, 32,913 patients were physically examined while 8,540 people were given consultation on telephones. The OPDs were closed on Saturday (Gandhi Jayanti) and Sunday.

On Monday, 6,579 patients got physical consultation at the hospitals New OPD department, as compared to 3,942 last Monday. Before the resumption of the walk-in facility, nearly 3,000 patients were visiting various OPDs daily, after prior appointments through tele-consultation or official website.

Keeping in view the possibility of a third wave, the institute authorities believe that capping the number of patients for physical examination is important. The institute is providing tele-consultation only between 8 am to 9 am, to scale up physical consultation.

The number of patients coming to the institute is more than expected. Since Covid-19 cases in Chandigarh and neighbouring states are fluctuating daily, crowding at one place can spread the infection. A cap of numbers and resuming OPDs in a phased manner is a must, said a PGIMER official, who did not wish to be named.

Dr Jagat Ram, director, PGIMER, said that on an average, 6,000 patients are visiting the institute daily, and each patient has two or three attendants with them. The total footfall is more than 18,000 daily.

At present, we are trying to manage the crowd and are accessing problems being faced by patients. In a week, we will call a review meeting with heads of each department and will decide upon further action. Guidelines on OPD operations will be reviewed, he said.

Before the contagion, over 10,000 patients visited PGIMERs OPDs daily. Since the suspension of walk-in consultation and online appointments in March last year, the institute had been providing OPD services through tele-consultation. From June 21 this year, physical consultations resumed, but only after prior appointment through tele-consultation.

On September 6, the institute also restarted an online appointment facility, but with a cap of 30 patients per department to ensure adherence to Covid protocols. Later, the limit was increased to 50 patients, with 100 allowed at three major departments opthalmology (eye), hepatology (liver) and internal medicine.

Now, patients can simply walk into the institutes New OPD between 9.15am and 11am and get registered.

More:
PGIMER to review operations as OPD footfall rises - Hindustan Times

This entry was posted on October 5, 2021 at 6:29 pm and is filed under Opthalmology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |