Patient Care Centre at OGH aiming high

Afzalgunj: The Patient Care Centre (PCC) was set up in Osmania General Hospital (OGH) by a city-based NGO, the Helping Hand Foundation (HHF) on Wednesday. This centre was set to assist patients and their attenders in multiple ways.

The new Patient Care Centre will improve the quality of care in state run hospitals through proper guidance, counselling and providing emotional support to patients. This will in turn restore patient trust in the hospitals - said Mujtaba Hasan Askari of Helping Hand Foundation

The centre which has come up in outpatient block of the oldest state-run hospitals in the State will be managed by six trained health care volunteers. The team will comprise of psychologists who will not only guide OPD (Out Patient Department) patients, but also offer free counselling services to keep patients motivated during the treatment.

Each day, more than 2,000 patients make a visit to OGH for Out Patient consultation. 95% of the patients that visit OGH are from economically backward sections and are daily wagers. However, majority prefer to seek treatment in OPD care, as opposed to inpatient care due to daily requirement to earn wages and the PCC is proving to be a boon to such patients who now get easier, smoother and faster access across different hospital facilities, explained the representatives of NGO.

Another key function of the PCC is to facilitate treatment of referral cases from lower centres each day. The NGO’s representatives said, it sends around 25 to 30 cases to OGH from different area hospitals in the city, who require outpatient consultation and some need admission in emergencies, which are not managed at the area hospital level. With the assistance of volunteers and the timely cooperation of the doctors, all referral cases are getting prompt access to treatment.

OGH also treats hundreds of unknown cases who come to hospital with trauma related injuries and other chronic ailments. The volunteers of the HHF will also been assisting unknown cases as they need lot of moral support to cope with the ailment apart from providing clothes, blankets and toilets which are required from time to time. We assist at least four to five unknown cases every month till they completely recover and are discharged, said the representative of NGO.

OGH, Superintendent Dr B Nagender said, Patient Care services are very critical in a large hospital like ours and this is one amongst the several measures we are taking to improve the quality of care in OGH.

Guidance, Counselling and emotional support to patients through the new Patient Care Centre will improve the quality of care in state run hospitals and this will in turn restore patient trust in these hospitals who otherwise get free treatment, said Mujtaba Hasan Askari of Helping Hand Foundation which runs similar centres in 17 other state-run hospitals.

“We are aligning CSR funds mainly from Public sector units in helping State run hospitals upgrade their facilities and have already donated 9 sets of iron benches for patient attenders, water dispenser, refrigerator for storing medicine in gastroenterology department and are in the process of also procuring high end hydraulic emergency response trolleys , wheel chairs and other equipment that will help patients at OGH,” added Askari.

In 2017 - 18 at OGH, the NGO said it financially assisted 869 patients - 11 patients were provided Hip and knee replacement implants, 380 HIV/TB patients were provided protein boxes, 332 patients were provided free cab services. The rest were assisted for blood, medicines, and advanced investigations.