Enquiry counter inaugurated at SSKM hospital

An enquiry counter has been set up at the SSKM Hospital which was inaugurated on Tuesday to address the queries of thousands of patients and their family members who visit various departments of the hospital on a regular basis.

According to a source, around four-five thousand patients visit various Out Patient Departments of the hospital every day. The patients have been facing problems as there was no specific information centre at the hospital. To solve the long-standing issue, the hospital authorities decided to open an enquiry counter at the hospital to disseminate information to the patients.

The enquiry centre that has come up in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode will remain operational round-the-clock.

Patients coming to the hospital to consult doctors at various Out Patient Departments will get to know information as to where a particular department is situated, where various diagnostic tests are performed, which documents have to be submitted and where.

Patients will also be informed when a particular doctor will turn up at the Out Patient Department. The enquiry counter will also provide information as where to get the tickets from for consulting doctors of a department.

A senior official of the hospital said that patients were facing difficulties for a long time. The initiative was taken to solve this problem. This will immensely help patients especially the ones who come from the districts and have to run helter-skelter as they do not know where a particular department is situated.

It may be mentioned here that the hospital authorities have undertaken an elaborate scheme to open centralised ticket counters for the Out Patient Departments (OPD) which will take off a lot of pressure of various departments. Many patients who come to the hospital with serious problems are often asked to consult doctors at the OPD. Serious patients have to stand in the long queues to get a ticket. The initiative was taken to reduce the length of the queues as well.