Medical College and Hospitals in Odisha asked to set up patient help desk

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Wednesday directed all Medical College and Hospitals (MCHs) to set up dedicated help desks so that attendants or families would be able to get detailed information about the treatment and health condition of patients.

The help desks would disseminate up-to-date information about the health condition/treatment of patients to their family members and guide them. Though similar help desks were set up in Covid hospitals during the pandemic, no such facility is available in the MCHs.

Health secretary Shalini Pandit has asked superintendent of all MCHs, Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer (AHPGIC) and VIMSAR, Burla to engage a senior nursing officer as Swasthya Sanjojak (health coordinator) to manage the help desk.

"A nursing officer having suitable attitude and aptitude will work as Swasthya Sanjojak, who would act as a link between the hospital and patient's family and communicate with them about the status of treatment of IPD (In-Patient Department) patients," she said.

During the outbreak of Covid-19, Pandit said, it was felt necessary that the prevalent system of informing the family members/attendants of the respective IPD patients regarding the health condition of patients needs to be strengthened.

Issuing a set of guidelines to open the help desks, the Health secretary has asked that Swasthya Sanjojaks be deployed from the existing manpower. This would be quite helpful to the relatives/attendants of patients admitted in ICU/HDU where access is restricted, she added.

The MCHs have been warned of action if they fail to set up the help desk. As the compliance of the help desk is directly related to the overall satisfaction of patients as well as attendants, non-compliance will be seriously viewed.