Central Railway to start Re 1 clinics at 5 stations

The move aimed to provide easy and cost-effective access to healthcare.

Indian Railways, Emergency Room, Emergency Health Care, Central Railways, Health Care, Railways Accident, Indian express, India News

Medical help is mostly sought after railway accidents, followed by people with chest pain and for pregnancy-related issues.

The Central Railway has tied up with a private organisation to start One Rupee Clinics at five railway stations to reach out to passengers who need quick medical consultation. The move aimed to provide easy and cost-effective access to healthcare. In an attempt to encourage poor patients to go for health check-ups, doctors with MBBS and MD degrees will provide consultation to passengers at Dadar, Kurla, Wadala, Mulund and Ghatkopar stations for Re 1 from this week. The 24-hour clinics will also have speciality consultations every day for skin, psychiatry, chest, diabetes and gynaecology.

“We realised that railway stations provide the easiest access to lakhs of people in the city,” said Dr Rahul Ghule, who along with his brother conceptualised the clinics. Four doctors will be available in each of the five clinics. The clinic at Dadar station will provide speciality consultation for diabetes and skin, the one in Ghatkopar will have a heart specialist, the Kurla clinic will provide gynaecology services,

Mulund will have a psychiatry specialist in its clinic and Wadala will provide pathology services to commuters.
“The One Rupee Clinic will start at five stations this week and expand to 19 stations on central and harbour lines. It is estimated that at least 100 patients will be attended to at each of the five stations every day,” Ghule added. According to the Central Railway, the clinics are an extension of the existing emergency medical service room available at each railway station for passengers.

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Medical help is mostly sought after railway accidents, followed by people with chest pain and for pregnancy-related issues. Under the state government’s 108 emergency ambulance service, an ambulance is parked outside each railway station to ferry injured passengers to the closest hospitals. According to the Mumbai district manager of the 108 service, in a day, 75 to 100 patients are transferred by the 108 ambulance service from 42 railway stations. The clinics will refer serious cases to these ambulances. Nearly 20 MBBS doctors have been appointed for the station clinics and MDs will visit on an honorary basis.

These clinics will also provide pharmacy services, along with basic blood tests. “All blood samples will go to Wadala pathology lab for analysis,” an official said. Central Railway PRO Narendra Patil said the clinics would also have small chemist shops and pathology kits to provide basic services to bonafide railway passengers. The concept will be replicated for Western Railways once the trial phase on Central Railways is successful. Have a comment or suggestion for Emergency Room?

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