SAMBALPUR: With uncertainty looming over implementation of online OPD ticket service at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences And Research (VIMSAR), Burla, patients continue to suffer amid an uncontrollable rush at the offline counters.
On an average, VIMSAR witnesses a footfall of more than 2,500 patients each day. Not only Sambalpur but patients come from far-flung areas in large numbers. Moreover, patients from neighbouring states Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand also depend on VIMSAR for health services. However, due to the long queues in front of the OPD ticket counters, these patients do not get timely consultation.
The proposal of the online OPD ticket service at VIMSAR was first moved in May 2022. Though the VIMSAR authorities had floated a tender and selected a private firm for implementation of the project, during the same period, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), India evinced its interest in the project. Subsequently, hoping that the C-DAC will take over the project, the VIMSAR authorities did not go ahead with the firm that was selected. However, there has been no visible progress in this direction ever since.
In absence of the online ticketing system, patients have to stand in queue for hours to get an OPD ticket. However, their struggle doesn’t end here. They have to again stand for a long time outside the respective OPD departments until they reach the doctor. On an average, it takes a patient around two hours to finally get consultation.
It is because of this delay, the patients often fall prey to middlemen. There are six OPD ticket counters at VIMSAR, including one for the staff and students, one for the senior citizens and the challenged besides the rest four for other patients. Many times patients have alleged middlemen offer to get them OPD tickets from the staff/student counter immediately and demand Rs 100 for it.
Superintendent of VIMSAR, Dr Lalmohan Nayak said, “The online ticket service project has been taken over by C-DAC so we do not have any say over the progress of the project. However, we will follow up with them.”
The superintendent also admitted that the OPD counters remain overcrowded most of the times and said, currently the OPD counters are opened at around 8.30am. If we open it an hour earlier, the problem of overcrowding could be resolved to some extent.
Official sources informed that the C-DAC is currently in the process of selecting a firm which will manage and maintain the online ticketing system. However, no physical work of installation of cables etc., has been carried out yet.