Lack of information adds to patient woes at SSPG

VARANASI: First-time visitors, both patients and their attendants, to the Shri Shiv Prasad Gupta (SSPG) divisional hospital and the nearby district women's hospital undergo a harrowing task locating the OPD and clinical units they need to visit.Lack of directions or staff dedicated to helping the visitors makes the hospital visit an even more bothersome and strenuous task then it already is.Pinki, a resident of Maldahiya, wasted about 40 minutes looking for the dermatology department. "I entered from the emergency department and did not know from where to get the registration slip. After roaming in the corridors for several minutes, I reached the dermatology department. The doctors and para medical staff there told me where to get the slip from. It was only after 40 minutes that I underwent treatment. It was very tiresome and time-taking. Anyone who has come for the first time will not know what is located where and get into trouble," she complained.Kushagra Singh, who had accompanied a patient, said, "One can easily get into the trap of touts on the first visit in the hospital, as there are no people to tell the whereabouts of OPDs and clinical units. It had happened with us a few months back when we had arrived for the first time."The hospital does not have an information kiosk or help desk from where patients and attendants and other visitors in the hospital can seek help about the location of the clinical units. Lack of these options poses several problems almost daily. People often enter directly to the emergency department and start asking where the clinical units and wards are located. This not only creates chaos in the corridors of the emergency but also creates disturbance for the hospital staff and patients. It is especially hard for patients who are not in a condition to move from one place to another."In the line of infrastructure improvement plan of the hospital, such a facility will be provided to the patients in the coming months. It is a necessary unit for any hospital as per the norms. The availability of such a help desk will eradicate several problems prevailing due to touts and unauthorized people," said superintendent in chief, Dr VK Srivastava.According to the guidelines by the Indian Public Health Standards, there should be a general information counter functioning round the clock in the hospital. Services like enquiry, reception and registration in the hospital are mandatory. In the divisional hospital, which has over 180 beds and a patient inflow of over 700 every day, there is no such desk. The registration desk from where the OPD slips are made is the only desk where patients get some clue about the location and services available in the hospital.The information kiosk is absent at both DDU district hospital and the district women's hospital. Senior health hospitals from the department have already asked the hospital administration to provide proper signage. It may be noted that the state programme management unit, National Rural Health Mission, has already announced tenders for the information kiosks in 20 hospitals of 18 district of UP. Information kiosks will also be installed at each district hospital of Agra, Varanasi, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Etawah, Azamgarh, Ambedkar Nagar, Basti, Gonda and Chitrakoot. Although Varanasi is listed in the 18 districts to be provided with information kiosks, there is no information about the desks in DDU and SSPG hospital as of now.