Bengal’s e-clinic service, Swasthya Ingit easing pressure on hospitals
With the introduction of the e-clinic system by the Bengal government, named Swasthya Ingit, the mounting pressure on hospitals has eased over the last 15 days. More than one lakh patients have been treated through 2,313 e-clinics, a form of telemedicine facility, during this period. On an average, 9,000 patients are being treated daily.
The Health Department has converted more than half of Suswasthya Kendras into e-clinics to give people quality healthcare near their homes, by arranging video calls between doctors and patients at these clinics.
More than 500 doctors are currently treating patients via video call. After checking patients, doctors generate e-prescriptions; the medicines are also provided from the e-clinics (formerly Suswasthya Kendras). The entire system, from consultation to providing medicines, is free of cost.
According to state government sources, a doctor gives four minutes of consultation to a patient. It is mostly women from the districts who have been seen to be interested in the telemedicine facility, with the maximum interest in the districts of Malda, Murshidabad, Paschim Medinipur and Purulia, and in Balurghat in Uttar Dinajpur (in north Bengal).
Moreover, the e-clinics have systematised the referral system of patients from primary to tertiary and super-specialty facilities. Now, a patient from the remotest part of the state is straight taken to a city hospital like NRS or SSKM.
The entire programme is being monitored through an online app called Swasthya Ingit.
Currently, 2,313 Suswasthya Kendras have been converted to e-clinics. However, the Health Department has planned to soon convert all 4,200 such centres into e-clinics so that more people can reap the benefits of healthcare at their doorsteps.
