Patients seek deployment of more staff at OP counters at GGH

Anantapur: The Government General Hospital (GGH) bustles with thousands of patients every day. Patients from the undivided district storm the hospital from 63 mandals as it is the only hospital having super speciality facilities although poorly maintained.

For patients coming from far and distant mandals, every patient has to go through the process of OP consultancy chits to visit the department doctor concerned, followed by clinical examination and finally to medical stores.

Every patient must stand patiently in multiple queues starting from OP chit queue, queue for doctor consultation, queue for clinical tests and queue to collect medicines. As the patient arrives at the hospital, he or she has to stand for 30 to 60 minutes in queues right at the OP counter queue line.

There are 16 OP departments for which there are only 2 counters. Each counter has just one staff member with a computer. Each counter caters to around 1,000 patients. This is consuming huge time and by the time the patients go to their respective department doctors, the doctors are available to only a few patients as they need to go for medical rounds to monitor in-patients.

For many patients only the house surgeons provide consultancy and treatment. Many patients who come from distant mandals get disappointed when they do not get to see expert doctors.

The patients are urging the hospital authorities to monitor the rush of patients at the OP counters and also take steps for posting 2 staff members in each counter so that the patients can be disposed off easily to facilitate their early and timely consultancy People waiting in long queues at OP counters at GGH in Anantapurof their doctors concerned.