Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said Jipmer officials had given an assurance that needy patients would not be denied treatment due to COVID-19-related restrictions on outpatient (OP) visits.
Following a meeting with Jipmer Director Rakesh Aggarwal at Raj Nivas, the Lieutenant Governor said she had specifically asked to ensure that measures for reducing overcrowding did not come in the way of offering emergency and essential services to the needy.
Earlier, Jipmer officials said a large number of physicians were infected and this was one reason behind restricting OP visits. To reduce the risk of transmission to those going to outpatient department (OPD) for consultation, Jipmer had decided to commence teleconsultation services and to limit the number of in-person OP consultations to 50 pre-registered patients, in each department last week.
‘Rescind the system’
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy flayed Jipmer’s decision to limit healthcare services to pre-registered patients. As insisting on online registration for appointments will put essential medical care beyond the scores of the rural poor, seeking refuge in Jipmer from the region, he urged the administration to rescind the system and render healthcare services to all needy, who turn up at the institution, irrespective of whether they had registered or not.
Jipmer said in a press note that it was complying with the instructions issued in the interest of the common man by the Lieutenant Governor that OPD services in Jipmer should continue in "letter and spirit".
‘Fake messages’
Terming recent messages circulating in some news outlets and social media that Jipmer had closed OPD services as false, Mr. Aggarwal said all OPDs continued to attend to patients, who have taken prior appointment. Additionally, doctors are providing treatment through teleconsultation and prescribing medicines via e-prescription to many others, eliminating the need for in-person visits.
Reiterating that the decision to reduce the number of people attending its OPD had been taken to ensure safety of patients and prevent Omicron spread, Jipmer added that the restrictions were short-term measures, in compliance with the social distancing norms of the Government of India. It is not possible to enforce these norms with the usual 10,000 new patient registrations in the institute. The institute authorities are regularly reviewing the COVID-19 situation and the restrictions will be revoked as soon as fresh cases subsides.
Jipmer appealed to those who have trivial illnesses to seek treatment from doctors in their own town or neighbourhood, instead of coming to Jipmer. Patients in need of their monthly supply of drugs for chronic ailments are requested to get it from government health centres in their locality or from a generic pharmacy such as Jan Aushadhi, for the time being. Patients with more serious ailments can always take prior appointment on teleconsultation so that they are promptly attended to when they come to Jipmer and do not have to spend a long time in a crowded OPD.
Jipmer continues to provide all emergency services, performing all essential surgical and other non-COVID procedures.
Intensive care and treatment for cancer and kidney failure patients is continuing, despite several healthcare workers and their family being infected, Jipmer said.
