Helpline comes to patients’ aid at Delhi govt hospitals
The helpline is meant for patients and their relatives/attendants at government hospitals to report any kind of lapse in policies of providing free medicines, tests, and surgeries.
3 min read
Launched by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in 2014, the helpline, initially meant for anti-corruption complaints, was among the major initiatives introduced by the AAP government after free water and electricity.
Neha Srivastava (27), who was in her last month of pregnancy, had gone to Pt Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital last month for an ultrasound. Due to give birth on November 22, she was asked to wait till December for the test. After repeated requests to doctors failed, she finally called the Delhi government helpline, 1031.
The helpline is meant for patients and their relatives/attendants at government hospitals to report any kind of lapse in policies of providing free medicines, tests, and surgeries.
“Doctors were rude and told me to come back in December for a simple diagnostic test. They did not even refer me to another hospital. I saw a poster of the helpline number at the hospital, made a call and explained the problem. Within 20 minutes, I received a call from the hospital administration. They gave me a referral prescription and my test was immediately done at another hospital,” said Srivastava, who gave birth to a healthy girl two days ago.
Launched by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in 2014, the helpline, initially meant for anti-corruption complaints, was among the major initiatives introduced by the AAP government after free water and electricity. In 2015, services were extended to hospitals. Administrative charge of the number was given to the health department in 2017.
Dharmendra Kumar, a resident of Kalyan Awas in East Delhi, said: “I was refused medicines at Lal Bahadur Shastri hospital earlier this month. While leaving the premises, I saw the poster about the helpline number and called it to see how it works. Within 30 minutes, I received a call from the hospital’s drug store and my problem was resolved.”
Long queues, shortage of drugs, unavailability of surgery dates and beds are among top queries raised by patients, said officials.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain told The Indian Express, “Through this helpline number, we have been able to address patient-related issues across government hospitals in Delhi. Now, if any patient or an attendant is unable to get medicines, beds, or face any other issue, they can simply dial the number. We have a nodal officer in each hospital to coordinate with patients.”
As per officials, when a complainant dials the number, the issue is passed on to the nodal officer at the hospital concerned. The officer has to immediately call the patient to his/her room to address the issue and report the resolution.
Notices and display boards displaying the number have been put up in hospitals for patients to call if they do not get medicines for free; face problems in free tests or surgery in private hospitals; or if government hospitals fail to conduct surgeries within 30 days.
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