Dialysis to Chemotherapy: Srinagar admin facilitates treatment of 2992 patients through call center

Srinagar, May 9: Srinagar District Administration has facilitated the treatment of 2892 patients through its call center.

The IVRS based Call Centre was inaugurated by Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu on April 17 and it replaced series of helpline numbers launched in March to deal with medical emergencies during the lockdown.

A dedicated fleet of 10 vehicles, a team of 12 professionals has been deputed on job round-the-clock for attending issues related to health emergencies, demands related to dialysis, chemotherapy, diabetes and other such ailments. Apart from the IVRS call center, 4 mobile numbers have also been made available.

Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar Shahid Iqbal Choudhary empanelled 13 dialysis center across the city and the expenses were borne by the district administration. Most of these centers are working with the administration on no-profit-no-loss basis while dedicated transport facility is made available by administration.

Choudhary said a total of 2992 patients have been provided assistance ever since the launch of the call center. These include 890 dialysis cases involving multiple cycles, 1115 delivered free drugs by a nodal officer, 263 patients provided free life-saving/ essential drugs, 148 patients provided transportation from home to hospital and back, 12 injury cases, 51 Chemotherapy cases and 181 patients delivered/provided diabetes drugs.

The initiative aimed at attending pre-COVID health issues has gained a greater response from the public and a large number of patients are availing the services made available. A separate fleet of vehicles has also been made available to select hospitals to provide services to patients in need of transport after discharge.

District Administration in its Endeavour to reach out to patients in need also included a survey of such requirements along with the ongoing door-to-door health audit and 1233 cases needing medical attention for non-COVID health issues were shared with primary healthcare institutions for response.

The daily monitoring system of response to public issues related to emergency healthcare has been put in place to ensure prompt attention. Nodal officers have been appointed in all the hospitals to attend these issues. Immediately on receipt of the call, a ticket is generated on the mobile of nodal office either in DC office, department, or hospital prompting the officer to address and provide service. The ticket is closed after delivery of service and a fixed timeline is allowed, beyond which the matter is flagged to Deputy Commissioner. This system has ensured a timely and effective response system.

The dedicated dialysis helpdesk in the call center has also generated a database of all patients in need of dialysis and other kidney-related ailments which has been mapped for prompt response by the nearest teams. Patients in need of dialysis, chemotherapy, transportation, etc can contact the call center at 6006333308 or the mobile numbers of a help desk.