The union health ministry is
contemplating a 12-hour OPD from 8am to 8pm. Safdarjung Hospital will be the
first amongst all hospitals run by the Central govt. to start this, although no
timeline for the execution of this project has not yet been defined. If
successful, this could be replicated in other hospitals run by the central
govt., reports TOI. Presently, OPD timings are 8am-1pm, with specialty clinics
like Diabetes in the afternoon.
The Right of Children to Free
and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act was
enacted by the Parliament in 2009. To fulfill this right, there must be
increased access to education, which could mean a need to increase the number
of schools. Shift schools were started to increase the number of schools. This
reduces the infrastructure costs to an extent, but requires planning for
efficient and effective operations. There are differing viewpoints on this too;
there is a concern that shift schools will reduce quality of education.
I believe that there are
several ways by which the govt. can think of providing accessible health care.
The govt. can enlist the help
of private doctors, for example, in Mohalla Clinics, who can then be reimbursed
on per case basis.
Hospitals should be hospitals
and OPDs should be just that, OPDs. This means that hospitals (inpatients) and
OPDs should be separate. Doctors should be posted either in OPDs or in wards,
of course for a defined period of time. This is one way by which a 12-hour OPD
can be realized.
In a move to address delay in
surgeries and to reduce backlog, last year, the Delhi Govt. had announced that
some selected private hospitals would perform free surgeries if the waiting
period in govt. hospitals was more than 30 days. These private hospitals would
be reimbursed at CGHS rates for the complete treatment. Something similar can
be worked out for govt. OPDs. Many patients are given long dates due to long
waiting queues at the OPDs. Such patients can be referred to private hospitals
and they can then be reimbursed by the govt.
A double shift in OPDs, PHCs
and hospital OPDs can help as long as each doctor maintains the required 8-hour
shift.
Long working hours will
disturb the work-life balance … a tired doctor is more likely to make medical
errors.
Extending OPD hours is a good
idea provided this does not lead to exploitation of doctors.
Dr KK
Aggarwal
Padma Shri Awardee
Vice President CMAAO
Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP
Publications
President Heart Care Foundation of
India
Immediate Past National President
IMA
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