State-run hospitals to be tracked through GPS

In a unique initiative, the state Health department has decided to maintain surveillance on state-run hospitals in the state through GPS trackers.

According to a source in the Health department, in the initial phases, the project would be implemented in the medical colleges across the state followed by the district and sub-divisional hospitals. The project would be started at SSKM Hospital, Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMCH) and Dr BC Roy Memorial Hospital on a pilot basis, sources said.

The Health department is carrying out a survey at all the medical colleges and hospitals in the districts as well in this regard. The GPS tracker will later be installed in all the hospitals in the state through various phases. It has been learnt that through the installation of GPS trackers in hospitals, the Health department will be able to get a detailed picture of the hospital as how many patients visited the Outpatient department, how many were admitted in the emergency department of various hospitals and other infromation. According to sources, the main purpose of the project is to monitor if there is at all a crisis of bed in the hospitals as alleged by staff members of the hospitals quite often. As a result of this, patients are often transferred from one hospital to another. It has also been learnt that the initiative has been taken as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had expressed her annoyance over the transfer of patients from one hospital to the other. She had given strong instructions to the Health department officials to ensure that patients are not transferred to other hospitals due to scarcity of beds.

A senior official of the state Health department said the matter will be dealt with strong hands. If someone is found indulging in any corrupt practices, strong action will be taken against them.

An agency will soon be engaged to collect data from various medical colleges for the implementation of the proposed project. The main purpose of the project is to provide better healthcare to patients visiting the state-run hospitals.