CUTTACK: The medical record department of SCB medical college and hospital (SCB MCH) where health records of thousands of patients are kept, is yet to be digitised even though three years have passed since a decision was taken in the connection.
As per sources, the department contains patients’ records even from some 40 years ago which are lying piled up in an unorganised manner. While several important documents were ravaged during 1999 Super Cyclone, many others were reduced to ashes in the fire mishap in April 2019.
Meanwhile, patients, police and even hospital staff face inconvenience as a lot of time is wasted in finding crucial records from the huge stacks of paper. Considering their plight, authorities of SCB MCH had written a letter to the Health and Family Welfare department in September 2021 seeking to digitise the medical record department. However, no steps have been taken in this connection as yet.
“It is a matter of concern that the state government is not initiating any steps to digitise the record room of SCB MCH even till now. Once digitised, it will be helpful in preserving important documents without any hassle and save a lot of time. Besides, they can be accessed with just a click,” said a retired staff of the hospital.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling who had recently visited the hospital emphasised the need of going paperless and online availability of patients’ records. “We hope the record room is digitised soon,” said a hospital staff.