In rented rooms across Delhi, part 2 of ‘mohalla’ clinic project takes off

After the brand new porta cabin launched in July last year in northwest Delhi’s Peeragarhi, the government Thursday inaugurated the first 22 of 100 new mohalla clinics, planned as a pilot project. The government is renting the buildings where these clinics are located, and doctors who will run them have been selected through an interview process over the last two months, and “empanelled” by the state health authorities. The clinics will be operating between 9 am and 1 pm on all weekdays.

The doctors will be remunerated Rs 30 for every patient and if the doctor chooses to engage a helper at his or her own expense, the consultation charge for every patient will be Rs 40.

The Munirka clinic, inaugurated by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Thursday, is located in a by-lane surrounded by 3-4 storey buildings, in Fakkarwada colony. Kejriwal says these clinics would eliminate the need for the public to approach private general practitioners. “Earlier, when you had a minor ailment like a fever or stomach ache, you had to go to a private doctor in the colony. Now, the government is offering the same facility for free to the poor,” the chief minister says.

These rented locations are temporary, says Health Minister Satyendar Jain, adding, “These may not look as good as the first clinic. We have taken these buildings on rent as temporary structures to fulfill basic health care needs; the permanent clinics will come up in the next 4-5 months.”

The Munirka clinic will be run by Dr Ishwar Singh Virat, a microbiologist and a private practitioner who is also looking to start his private diagnostic clinic. He has been selected to run the first 22 of 100 clinics launched under a pilot scheme.

By the time the chief minister leaves, Dr Virat is surrounded by about 20-25 patients. Patients wait around the single table behind which he sits, with the first patient in the queue occupying the single stool there. A shelf behind him is full of the first batch of medicines for the clinic — supplied by the Delhi government — that includes antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics and antihistamines, among others.

A private laboratory, which will be conducting a list of 200 diagnostic tests at these clinics for free, is setting up its sample collecting centre in the next room, which doubles up as a medicine store. Notice boards in blue atop the entrance of the building announce — “free consultation, free medicines, free tests”. These tests include basic blood, urine and stool examinations.

In another part of the city, the mohalla clinic inside a single-room structure on the ground floor of a bungalow in Hari Nagar Ashram colony, in Jangpura, is abuzz with activity.

Even before the board of the mohalla clinic is put up, or the furniture unloaded, Dr V S Chauhan, who till last year was working with the Delhi government’s school health scheme, is already seeing patients. An app developed by the WISH foundation, the knowledge partner for the first 50 clinics which will help doctors feed in data of every patient, is still to be provided here. Prescriptions provided by the chief medical officer of the district are being used.

“In barely two hours, we saw around 30-35 patients. Patients came with problems like headaches, stomach ailments and viral-like symptoms. Given the rush of patients, I think I will have to extend my timings beyond the 1 pm schedule,” says Dr Chauhan.

Atar Singh Saini, a 68-year-old retired employee of the government agriculture department in Oman’s Muscat, has given the ground floor of his residence, which till recently functioned as his ‘guest room’, on rent for the mohalla clinic.

The government is paying him a rent of Rs 13,000 which, he says, is at least Rs 10,000 short of the actual rent for the property. But Saini says he wants to do something “to be remembered by”. “When you have worked abroad all your life, you want to give back to your country in whatever way you can… this is not for the money,” he says.

At Patparganj, in West Vinod Nagar’s D block near Mangalam Hospital, Pratap Singh has approached the local ‘mohalla’ clinic for medicines; he has been suffering from fever for the last three days. Singh, who works as a driver, says he got the medicines from a place he earlier used to visit for a dose of gossip — his childhood friend’s front porch. “But now, it has become a clinic. It will take some getting used to,” says Singh.

“When I heard they were starting a neighbourhood clinic, I came here immediately. Who knows… from next week, even this will get crowded,” he says with a laugh.

Under the pilot project for ‘mohalla’ clinics, the medical equipment and pharmacy is being arranged for by the Directorate of Health Services and district health officials respectively. Fully equipped chambers are being made available to the selected doctors, who are in-charge of maintaining the clinics. Health department officials said doctors have to keep the clinic open for a minimum of four hours on working days, but may choose to extend the working hours of the clinic and augment their income by serving more patients.

As per initial government estimates, doctors will examine about 50 patients in a four-hour shift, they said. According to the proposal, the clinic would remain open 25 days in a month.