Srinagar, Oct 20: Few years ago, many hospitals in Srinagar received PVC banners with QR codes, scannable to fast-track registration process.
Patients could fill in their details, order a print-out of the registration card and proceed to the department of the hospital where they sought consultation.
The ease was short-lived.
For patients visiting government hospitals in Kashmir, seeking medical care begins with a long queue and longer wait.
Even before they get to see a doctor, it’s a challenge at multiple levels.
Serpentine queues at registration counters are made more excruciating by the miniscule number of counters against the number of people seeking treatment.
The wait does not end at the registration – outside outpatient department (OPD) chambers the waiting time is longer.
The ambiguity about how long it will take to get the turn, who will be the treating doctor and the manner of managing queues in sparsely equipped hospitals turn the visit into a test of patience.
The continued queues raise questions about the effectiveness of digital initiatives that had been introduced to simplify patient access.
At most of the hospitals in Kashmir, these systems are not functioning on the ground.
Under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, QR-code-based OPD registration was introduced in 2023.
This system intended to simplify the process by allowing patients to share their health profile.
They could also obtain a registration token.
The facility was introduced at more than 55 hospitals, according to Digital Mission statement.
The persistence of queues at Super Specialty Hospital, SMHS Hospital, Lal Ded Hospital, and other major hospitals in Srinagar and across Kashmir point to the gap between the efficacy, availability and existence of digital facilities.
For patients travelling from far-flung areas the much of the day spent at the hospital means registration and wait, while the consultation lasts less than three minutes.
Elderly patients, people with disabilities, pregnant women and those who need assistance face an additional burden.
A senior official at GMC Srinagar said that more counters at the hospitals “are not possible” due to paucity of staff.
“We have four windows at most hospitals for OPD registration. We are unable to provide more,” he said.
He said that a new smart hospital system was being worked on and would make navigating the health facilities easier, and smoother.
Regarding the digital registration, he said, the QR based registration has not taken off the way it was intended to.
There is a problem at the back-end, and there was also a problem with the hospitals as the QR registration system required physical manpower as well, due to being partially automated only.
While J&K features among the top states and UTs in India on health indices, it appears the crowded hospital corridors and queues have been left out of the major progress milestones.
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