Govind Sharma
JAMMU, May 12: After remaining suspended for over 45 days, the services of Out Patient Department (OPD) resumed today in Government Medical College and Associated Hospitals (GMC&AH) Jammu.
However, unlike past, there was no rush at either registration counters or OPD Halls as GMC administration has made adequate arrangements to avoid rush and make patients and their attendants obey social distancing norms.
With start of OPD services, the non-COVID patients today took a sigh of relief as after facing difficulties for over 45 days they got expert consultation today for their various ailments like skin allergy, gastro diseases, ortho problems, speech and hearing ailments, gynae related diseases, cardiac diseases, etc.
While all other OPDs were conducted at their original places, the OPD for psychiatric diseases were conducted in GMC instead of Psychiatric Hospital as the latter has been converted as COVID Hospital and all its patients has been shifted in a separate Ward in GMC.
As the GMC administration had already notified dedicated phone numbers for each specialty to get appointment telephonically and had fixed the limit of 20 appointments per speciality per day, no rush was witnessed either in OPD halls or registration counters.
To collect OPD registration slips, very few people were witnessed standing in queues outside registration counters that too within the circles drawn at a safe distance by the authorities of the hospitals. Everybody was seen following protocols like wearing face masks and keeping safe distance from each other.
Principal and Dean, GMC&AH Jammu, Dr Nasib Chand Digra informed that as it was first day, OPD was very less today. He said, “10 patients attended Opthalmalogy OPD, 13 Orthopaedics, 8 Medicine, 4 Surgery, 4 Anti-Rabies, 18 Urology, 3 Neurology, 18 CTVS, 20 Paediatrics, 14 ENT, 6 Gynae, 17 Dermatology and 11 Oncology”.
Dr Digra said that 26 and 13 cancer patients also visited to get Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy treatment, respectively. He further informed that several patients who had taken appointment did not come while numerous came without taking prior appointment but they were also examined by the doctors in the OPD as there was no rush today. However, he advised people not to come without taking prior appointment.
“It is a very good decision to resume OPD services in GMC&AH Jammu as people had been facing several hardships due to closure of OPD services but now the district administration needs to start pubic transport so that poor people from far off places in Jammu may get consultation/treatment for their varied diseases,” said Mohan Lal, an electrician who was accompanying his father as an attendant at Ortho OPD.
Meena Devi, a housewife from Miran Sahib area while coming out from Skin OPD said, “I have taken several medicines worth Rs 5000 during the lockdown period for a minor skin allergy on the advice of local chemists but got no relief. But, now after getting expert consultation, a ray of hope has arisen that I will be all right within few days”.
Another patient coming from Medicine OPD said that like OPD services, GMC administration should also take an early decision on indoor admission and surgical procedures as poor people cannot afford treatment/surgical procedures at private hospitals.
Pertinent to mention here that the OPD services, indoor admission and elective surgeries in GMC&AH Jammu were suspended from March 25 by the J&K Government as a precautionary measure after the outbreak of COVID-19 and announcement of 21-day lockdown by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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