LN Hospital gets private hands to turn around

“This is the first time we are experimenting with a private player to help improve our facilities,” Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia says. “They will work to put the system in place within the present constraints.”

The idea for the project germinated during one of Walia’s late-night visits to the hospital’s emergency ward.

As part of the plan,Genpact will train doctors and paramedics at LN Hospital to bring down the time taken to attend to patients after they enter emergency. The team will also work on improving signages to cut the chaos in the emergency ward.

As part of the project,Genpact will give suggestions on purchasing as well as maintaining equipment. According to officials,the BPO’s healthcare department has been providing similar solutions by bringing down administrative costs for its 3,000 associates across the world.

The Genpact team will begin operation this week itself — the Dean and Medical Superintendent of Lok Nayak Hospital,Dr Arun Agarwal,met with Genpact representatives on Thursday to discuss details of the partnership.

“They will help us in optimising utilisation of resources,” Dr Agarwal says. “We will improve all functions in the casualty and try to iron out problem arising due to heavy patient inflow. Over the next two months,our emergency is going to learn how to categorise patients depending on the seriousness of injuries,thereby reducing the time spent in paperwork and other formalities.”

The hospital authorities are looking at procuring wheelchairs and stretchers to help patients move in quickly to the casualty area. “Our priority is to reduce the time between a patient arriving at the hospital and getting treatment,” Dr Agarwal says.

How well the doctors take guided tours to efficiency remains to be seen but Health Minister Walia says Genpact’s involvement is “not going to be intrusive”. She says,“We have had several discussions between the firm and doctors on the issue.”

In case the experiment succeeds,the government plans to replicate it at other places.

What Genpact will do

* Train doctors and paramedics to bring down time taken to attend to patients after they enter emergency

* Work on improving signages to cut the chaos in emergency ward

* Give suggestions on purchasing as well as maintenance of equipment

* Team begins operation this week itself