In line with the objectives of the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), one of the three Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHC) in Tambaram has been upgraded as a polyclinic.
It is meant for all residents; but expectant mothers and newborn babies constitute its key target group.
There are three UPHCs in Tambaram. As the locality has a population of around 1.5 lakh people, they seem to serve the ideal of one UPHC for every 50,000 people.
Two of these centres — located at Poondi Bazaar, East Tambaram, and Ranganadapuram, West Tambaram — operate round-the-clock. Plans are on to upgrade the health centre at Patel Nagar, West Tambaram, to a 24/7 facility. Now, it operates from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is closed on Sundays.
A month ago, the centre at Ranganadpuram was upgraded as a polyclinic and started functioning round-the-clock.
Retired doctors of Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and guest doctors from other government hospitals visit the clinic every day and spend an hour there, on rotational basis. A honorarium is paid to these doctors by the NUHM. Consultation is free; so are prescribed medicines. Patients with severe complications are referred to any GH for further treatment.
Around 15 staff nurses work in these three UPHCs, serving residents of 39 wards of Tambaram. They meet residents and tell them about the facilities at these centres.
A Tambaram Municipality official says, “The nurses administer vaccinations to the newborn babies and take a ‘census’ of the expectant mothers in Tambaram. From April 1, it is mandatory for expectant mothers to produce Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) ID to be able to download the birth certificates of their newborns. The municipality is planning to have an unified portal for downloading birth and death certificates.
Details about expectant mothers collected by the nurses will be stored in the Pregnant and Infant Cohort Monitoring and Evaluation (PICME) software. Based on this, a12-digit RCH ID number will be given to the expectant mother. This measure is aimed at checking the scourge of forged birth certificates.”
“The role of the nurses is to create awareness about pre-natal and post-natal health care, healthy and nutritious diet and personal hygiene,” said one of the staff nurses, adding that they also go to government schools in the neighbourhood to discuss health issues among girl students.
“On a regular basis, free tablets are provided to the children who suffer from anaemia. Additionally, maternity assistance is provided to mothers of government school students who are expecting another child,” says the official.