Booking PGI Appointments Online: Selecting time slot option at OPDs may take more time

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“We can start the service any time. The proposal too has already been discussed in few meetings. But the number of patients who visit the hospital is very high and it is not possible for consultants at OPDs to check the patients at a particular time,” an official told Chandigarh Newsline on Thursday.

The official maintains that the hospital has been recording 10,000 OPD registrations for the last few months. “In this case, when the number is so high, how is it possible for doctors to check the patients at a particular time?” asked the official.

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J P Nadda had in December last year had formally inaugurated the online registration facility at PGI. At present, other than registration facilities for new and existing patients, the institute also provides a facility to access lab reports online as well.

Several doctors told Chandigarh Newsline on Thursday that the idea to give a particular time slot to the patients was “not possible for now”.

Dr Jagat Ram, HoD, Advance Eye Centre, PGI, whose department is recording more than 1,500 patients at OPD each day, told Chandigarh Newsline that it was impossible to give a particular time slot to the patients. “I don’t think it is possible because the number of OPD patients is high,” Ram said. “It will work in only those areas where the number of patients is limited. In PGI we examine patients very carefully and if you start giving a particular time slot, it may create variations.”

“In corporate hospitals, the number of patients is very limited on a particular day and the time slot option works there,” said another senior PGI doctor, who wished not to be named. “If the PGI starts this service then the number of patients needs to be curtailed, which can’t happen.”

There are many doctors, however, who believe that the premier institute should start this service on a trial basis.

“Yes, it is a good thing. The hospital should start it in a phased manner,” said Dr Sanjay Bhadada, from the department of endocrinology. “If this feature is started, it will help those who have to wait in long queues at the institute.”

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