Hospitals in Kolkata get Ayushman-ready

Kolkata: Having completed their staff training for Ayushman Bharat, several city hospitals plan to strengthen and reshape their operational capabilities to usher in the central health scheme. Anticipating a patient rush once the distribution of Ayushman cards begins, some plan to extend their facilities, employ dedicated medical teams and earmark spaces for patients admitted under the scheme.

Ruby General Hospital is setting up five additional ‘modular’ OTs to meet the patient load. The OTs will be functional by July-end. “We are adding 45 beds to our critical care unit and extending the emergency area. As most Ayushman patients will be admitted either for critical surgeries or for emergency care, they can’t be asked to wait. So we need the additional OTs,” said Ruby chief general manager-operations Subhashis Datta. Pointing out that the number of Ayushman patients from neighbouring states already rose from 110 a month to 150 now, “There will be a further surge once the scheme opens up locally,” said Datta. The hospital will also have more six-member teams for critical care, instead of the current single one, comprising two doctors, nurses and managers.

A significant number of doctors at BP Poddar Hospital were already registered under Ayushman Bharat and the hospital infrastructure was being boosted to support the expected patient load, said Supriyo Chakrabarty, group adviser. “A patient service team has been created to ensure a smooth process for Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries. Anticipating a rise in the number of Ayushman beneficiaries, we have made provisions for expansion of our patient service and coordination team. We have a registered and active Ayushman Bharat portal and patients already avail of treatment under the scheme,” said Chakrabarty. But, he added, Ayushman patients would not be allotted to a separate ward.

Desun Hospital is “strengthening back-end coordination, streamlining admission and documentation processes, and sensitizing teams on protocols’. “Our Ayushman Bharat coordination team has undergone training by Swasthya Bhavan. We plan to have a dedicated helpdesk, along with earmarked beds and resources, to manage Ayushman patient flowl. There will not be a separate medical team exclusively for Ayushman patients but dedicated coordinators and administrative staff will facilitate smoother processing, guidance and timely access to healthcare services,” said Desun chairman & MD Sajal Dutta.

Charnock Hospital had an established mechanism for handling patients under various health schemes, said MD Prashant Sharma. “We deal with other schemes, such as CGHS and ESIC, as well, and we are well prepared both at Charnock Hospital and at Charnock Lohia,” said Sharma.

The health administration at Techno India DAMA Hospital has received the Ayushman training and the facility will expand services to ensure patients continue to receive seamless treatment, according to M S Purkait, medical superintendent, Techno DAMA. “We are prepared to restructure and strengthen our operational framework s. We are ready to accept Ayushman patients as soon as the scheme is implemented at hospitals,” he added.

Consultants and senior nurses at HCG Cancer Hospitals have completed the Healthcare Facility Registry and the Healthcare Professional Registry. Senior doctors here treated all patients, irrespective of whether they came under govt schemes, private insurance or cash payment, said Rupali Basu, regional business head, HCG Cancer Hospitals. She added no discrimination was made in allocating wards either.