MUMBAI: The BMChas directed all its major hospitals, including KEM, LTMG, BYL Nair and RN Cooper, to start their outpatient departments sharp at 8 am to reduce waiting time for patients. The directive follows Additional Municipal Commissioner Dr Sudhakar Shinde’s visit to various municipal hospitals on Tuesday, where he observed substantial queues for registration and consultation with OPD doctors. Further, the civic orders also directed that all doctors must register their attendance using biometric devices. for the time of entry and exit. Biometric attendance will be linked to wages through their SAP IDs. Dr Shinde asked the deans of all these institutions to implement the orders.
Speaking to TOI, Dr Shinde said he was shocked to see patients waiting for 45 minutes to an hour for check-in at hospitals like KEM and Sion. Despite the crowd, the check-in counters strictly adhere to the set hours, which he believes should be more flexible depending on the influx of patients. “As it stands, 24-hour check-ins occur in emergency departments. I have asked the colleges to come up with a system to ensure that OPD check-ins begin at 6:30 a.m., lining up with the typical arrival time of patients,” he said. He also added that hospitals like KEM may have a total OPD load of 5,000 but only 1,500 patients are new. “So why should registrations take so long with multiple counters available,” he said.
Addressing one of the age-old problems of public hospitals – absence or unavailability of senior doctors, Dr Shinde said the impetus behind biometric attendance is also to ensure punctuality and discipline in OPDs. “It is important for doctors to improve their time management, matching their schedules to the convenience of patients rather than their commitments to other work. Delays in starting OPD are leading to long periods of ‘wait for the patients,’ he said. Some doctors have said they go directly to surgeries, so biometric assistance could be a challenge. To this, Shinde said that he plans to install the biometrics near the operating theatres. He further encouraged the doctors to arrive a little earlier to mark their biometric attendance before proceeding with the surgeries.
Meanwhile, AMC Shinde said it has come up with a proposal to appoint ‘executive administrators’ in BMC medical schools to better regulate patient and manpower management matters. Each of these hospitals collectively sees 4000 to 6000 patients each day. “While crowding is a challenge, it is an issue that can be addressed more effectively,” he said.
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