KOLKATA: In a bid to reduce patients’ queue at the outpatient department (OPDs) of various state-run medical colleges and provide hassle-free services, the Health department is planning to introduce QR code facilities. The service has already been introduced at the SSKM hospital on a pilot basis.
Patients or their family members have to scan QR code on their mobile phones and they will have to furnish some personal details including Aadhaar numbers and the names of the OPDs.
A token number will be generated on the mobile phones. The patients will be able to get tickets at the OPDs by producing token numbers. The facilities were started at SSKM from Monday. QR code images have been installed at various points at the SSKM Hospital.
All the Outpatient Departments (OPD) see a huge footfall of patients every day. The SSKM Hospital authorities earlier introduced centralised ticket counters for the OPDs to reduce the length of the queue and also to help the patients to consult a doctor in a lesser amount of time. Sources at SSKM said that around 5,000-20,000 patients visit various OPDs on an average with most of them coming from the districts. The patients often allege that they have to wait for nearly 5 to 6 hours to get their tickets. Thousands of patients from the far-off districts come to various departments of the SSKM. As a result of which there was always a tremendous pressure on all the Outpatient Departments.
A senior official of the Health department said that there has been a sharp increase in the number of patients visiting various OPDs. As a result of this, the existing number of ticket counters is not enough to cope up with the situation. As a result there are plans to start a QR code system for the patients who stand in the queue for consulting doctors at various OPDs in medical colleges.