HYDERABAD: Every morning after 10.30 am, dejected pregnant women walking out of the Modern Government Maternity Hospital in Petlaburj is a common sight. The reason: Antenatal Out Patient registration timings at the hospital continue to be only for two-hours (8.30 am to 10.30 am). Around 130 to 150 slots a day are allotted for new patients.
So, if a poor pregnant woman travelling from a faraway district for the crucial checkup is not able to get her name registered within that two hour window, she either has to travel all the way back and return another day or find accommodation in the city. There is heavy competition for the slots as some people stay overnight to be the first ones in the queue.
The Maternity Hospital in Petlaburj is one of the most sought after health facility in the State. The situation is likely to change as the hospital superintendent Dr S Nagamani said they, with the help of a Trust, were planning to adopt digital means to resolve the issue. One of the ideas is to get patient coordinators to reach out to each woman waiting in the line and register her appointment instantly using tablets.
If there are more number of patients than slots, names will be noted down and appointments will be allotted on some other day. If this system is introduced, then pregnant women will not have to visit the hospital day after day hoping to get an appointment.
The move is likely to bring great relief. On Monday for instance, more than 70 women could not get register their names as the OP Registration Counter closed at 10.30 am. One of them, who is five-months pregnant, claimed she reached the hospital by 7.30 am and yet could not get her name registered for OP consultation.
“She was in need of second trimester pregnancy check up and wanted to consult a doctor too. But she could not register her name. We have to will come by 6.30 to 7 am tomorrow,” her family member said.
Crunch for space at Petlaburj Hospital
There is crunch for space at Modern Government Maternity Hospital, Petlaburj and the administration officials said that the issue could be resolved if the fourth floor is allotted to them. Currently, major part of fourth floor is allotted to Osmania General Hospital. As patches of roof was crashing to ground in In-Patient Block at OGH, officials wanted to shift some wards from there to Maternity Hospital. However, it has been more than eight-months that floor is not put to use. Currently, wards in second floor of OGH’s In-Patient block are accommodated in ground floor. When asked, Director of Medical Education Dr K Ramesh Reddy said that Maternity Hospital authorities were given permission to start using the fourth floor. “We are going to start Infertility Clinic in that floor,” Dr Reddy said.