A complete computer system, along with other items, were stolen from Aam Aadmi Clinics (AACs) in Beant Nagar. An Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment clinic (OOAT), located in Bathinda City has been shut down for more than 3 months.
According to official sources, the protocol states that drugs cannot be distributed offline to drug addicts. However, the health department is yet to decide on a new computer. According to information collected from AACs, scores of clinics that opened in the second stage on January 26, this year all complained about unsecured clinic premises and a shortage of sanitation staff. Doctors at various clinics in both urban and rural areas claim that staff members are pooling their money to pay for safai Karamcharis.
Anju Bansal, the AAC coordinator at Beant Nagar, said that a OOAT center had an average of 50-60 patients.
“Since we do not have a functional online system of distribution of medicines, the centre is lying closed since February. The city has asked enrolled patients to visit other centres to collect their medications. But we keep getting the drug addicts and the district authorities were apprised of the matter to take due action,” she said.
Police information indicates that unidentified individuals broke into a mohalla clinic on the 13th of February, while running away from a densely populated urban slum. The thieves took a CPU, monitor, printer, and 7 fans. Bansal revealed that the facility employs 20 females and two men, but there is no chowkidar. “We pool money to pay a person for cleanliness,” she added.
Dr ShekharMangla who is in charge of the AAC in Dhillon Colony, Parasram Nagar area in the city confirmed that he had personally paid over ₹The clinic spends 1,500 dollars per month on maintaining hygiene. “We have a daily footfall of more than 50 patients but there is no provision for a sanitation worker. The new system for health care is not improving things as we had hoped. AACs were given tablets in order to maintain all patient data and the disbursement for medicines. But there are no printers, and the staff has to maintain records manually also,” said Mangla, a regular medical officer. The mohalla clinic manager admitted to having outsourced an employee for a monthly fee of ₹Maintaining online and offline data requires 6,000 dollars. “I did not find it practically possible to maintain parallel records digitally and manually. So, I made unofficial arrangements to keep the data updated,” said the doctor.
Dr Gurmel Singh who is the head of three AACs at Nathana Block, has said that the lack of printers has led to an increase in the workload for the staff. “For every patient, doctors have to ensure data entry on tablets as well in a register. The state government does not have printers so clinic staff must handwrite prescriptions for each patient. It wastes human hours,” said Singh, president of the Bathinda unit of Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA).
Sukhjinder Gill is the district family welfare officer and nodal officer in Bathinda District. He said that various health facilities, both rural and urban, which were upgraded to AACs, are still working with the same human resources and facilities as before.
“It is for the heads of the respective mohalla clinics to manage the sanitation as there is no provision for chowkidar or safai karamcharis,” he said.
Ramandeep Singla, deputy medical commissioner of Bathinda, said that he is aware of the suspension of the OOAT Centre at Beant Nagar and will resolve the matter in the coming week.
“Patients can visit other centres in the city to get medicines. As per the rules, a new desktop may be provided. In charges can coordinate with the panchayats to secure the manpower for maintaining cleanliness at the mohalla clinics,” he added.
