The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has decided to soon start a tele-consultancy service for its medical staff in 54 civic hospitals with expert doctors to ensure better healthcare service for the urban poor. Though the PMC has clinics and hospitals across the city, it does not have expert doctors in all hospitals. “The patients from civic hospitals are provided basic health services in all civic hospitals but when it comes to more serious health conditions, they are referred to select civic hospitals having expert doctors. The patients have to travel a long way to these select hospitals or go to a private hospital near them," said Vaishali Jadhav, PMC assistant medical officer. To overcome this problem, the PMC will launch the doctors' tele-consultancy service under National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) and it will connect medical practitioners to expert doctors posted in select hospitals, she said. "The civic body has set up 'Arogya Vardhini' centres in its 54 hospitals. Medical practitioners from these hospitals can take consultation from health experts posted in other PMC hospitals." Expert doctors, including a wide range of specialists like paediatricians, gynaecologists and psychiatrists, will be consulted by doctors from small civic hospitals under this facility, she said. The PMC can also get the services of experts from its newly started medical college, she said and added that the civic body has the best doctors so that it would be better for the poor to avail their services rather than private hospitals which could be costlier.
