No prior appointment for Goa Medical College OPDs from tomorrow

PANAJI: The Goa Medical College (GMC) and hospital will start its regular out-patient department (OPD) services from Wednesday. Patients will be able to make on-the-spot appointments to consult with doctors, the practice followed before the Covid-19 pandemic restricted the hospital’s services.
GMC had curtailed its OPDs to only emergency cases when the first lockdown was announced in March.
Then, around a month ago, the system changed, and patients could visit the hospital, but only with a prior appointment.
The prior appointment will now stand cancelled. “We are ready to start full-fledged OPDs and adequate arrangements have been made to conduct them while following social distancing norms,” said GMC dean Dr S M Bandekar.
He also said that pandals have been erected so that patients can wait till their turn to see the doctor. “Patients can stand in queue and book their appointments.”
Bandekar said GMC doesn’t want to inconvenience people anymore, and hence it has decided to restart regular OPD services.
The dean also said that the previous system (of telephonic appointments) attracted complaints from patients that they weren’t able to secure appointments.
“Many patients told us they were not able to get appointments since telephone lines remained continuously busy,” he said.
Bandekar said that GMC’s OPDs usually see 1,300-1,500 patients a day, but that has now dropped by 50%. The hospital sees around 25-30% of its patients come from districts in Maharashtra and Karnataka that border Goa. Due to travel restrictions, the number of persons visiting GMC from neighbouring states has also dropped.