24x7 control room to keep tabs on govt hosp services in Bengal

Kolkata: The integrated control room aimed at improving services in govt hospitals across the state is set to become operational at Swasthya Bhawan from Wednesday. The state health department has deployed a 28-personnel-strong contingent to man the control room 24x7 on rotation.

In the first phase, the control room will be connected with govt hospitals in the city and extend the network to district hospitals in a phased manner.Sources in the health department said the initiative is aimed at bringing hospital services in the state under an organised and data-driven monitoring system. In addition to ensuring beds for patients, the officials said the centralised monitoring system will also help address issues like allegations of laxity in patient care, infrastructure shortcomings and delays in resolving complaints and strengthening the grievance redress system.“One of the issues we intend to address is to ensure a bed for patients. Through the control room, such patients would be guided to the nearest health facility in case there is no vacant bed in the first hospital. This second health facility could be a govt as well as a private health facility,” said state health minister Sharadwat Mukherjee. The state has already gathered around 2,000 free beds in different private hospitals that took govt land for free or at a nominal rate.

To become operational on Wednesday, the 28-member team is a mixed bag of doctors, nursing personnel, administrative officials and data entry operators. The team will maintain direct communication with hospitals across the state and resolve service-related problems. If any irregularity is detected anywhere, the hospital authorities concerned will be contacted immediately so that corrective action can be taken without delay.“We will begin by monitoring the emergency units in tertiary-level govt health facilities in Kolkata. If an emergency patient does not get a bed in that hospital, the control room will help the patient garner a bed in other hospitals. Many more features will be added in a later phase,” said a senior health official.The team will work round the clock in three shifts. Dedicated mobile and landline numbers have been shared with the hospitals so that they can reach out to the control room any time of the day.