NEW DELHI: Safdarjung Hospital has decided to start special geriatric OPD services on Sundays for the elderly. “This is an additional service along with the continuing OPDs. It was seen that on normal days the senior citizens often encounter problems and were not comfortable; they often had to stand for hours in long queues and faced difficulty in getting the proper care. At Safdarjung, on a daily basis, around 10 per cent of the total patient crowd is senior citizens,” said Dr Sunil Gupta, Medical Superintendent.
To be inaugurated by Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, the OPD service will start on July 28 in the main OPD complex. As of now, the services will be provided by five departments: medicine, general surgery, ENT, ophthalmology and orthopaedics.
“The reason that these five have been chosen is that most of the elders face complications in health that are associated with the departments. With time, depending upon the success rate, we plan to expand the facility to other required departments,” Dr Gupta added. Laboratory and radiological investigations will be done through emergency services in the New Emergency Block.
Some more facilities will be made functional on the same day, including the cath lab in the cardiology department, the lithotripsy machine in the urology department, and the MRI machine in radiology, to be inaugurated by the minister. The existing MRI machine at Safdarjung is almost 13 years old and has started facing problems in its functioning.
Timings
The OPD timings will be 9.30 am to 12.30 pm, and registration will be done from 9 am to 11.30 am. Patients would be asked to come the day the respective unit offers OPD services for follow-up visits. The dispensary will issue medicines from 9.30 am to 1 pm.