In a week, the long-planned evening OPD initiative will begin at the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16.

“The plan is in place, and we will start with the evening OPD soon on a trial basis at GMSH-16 for two hours, 5 pm to 7 pm, and analyse the response of people to the effort. One of the major roadblocks to this effort was the need for staff, and now new specialists have been approved for the evening OPD. Instead of starting the OPD in various places, we decided to start here, as we have all the facilities for diagnostics, CT scans, X-ray, etc., at the hospital, and patients don’t have to run around anywhere for tests. Once the OPD starts, we will review the system and fine-tune it as per the needs of patients,” said Dr Suman Singh, Director, Health Services.

The initiative aims to ease patient load and provide access to those unable to seek treatment during regular working hours. While the plan has found support in principle, hospital authorities have flagged acute staff shortage as the biggest challenge in implementing the proposal.

The Chandigarh Administration had sent a proposal seeking nearly Rs 6 crore to restart evening OPD services as part of a phased plan, with GMSH-16 being the first government hospital in the union Territory where evening OPD services would be revived.

Evening OPD services were first introduced here in 2015, but could not be sustained for long due to operational and staffing constraints. A social welfare committee constituted by the Chandigarh Administration had recently recommended that government hospitals start evening OPDs to cater to working professionals and patients who find it difficult to visit hospitals during the daytime.

Following the committee’s recommendation in August last year, officials of the Health Department had submitted that a separate team of doctors and healthcare staff would be required to run the evening OPD, as the existing workforce is already overburdened and had submitted a Rs 6-crore budget proposal, including expenses for doctors, nursing staff, paramedical personnel and support staff.

GMSH-16 caters to a massive patient load daily. The OPD alone sees up to 3,500 patients every day, while the emergency department records an average of around 400 patients daily. During dengue and viral fever seasons, the number of emergency cases nearly doubles. The 500-bedded hospital serves as a major referral centre for the region, receiving patients from Chandigarh as well as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

One of the most burdened departments is obstetrics and gynaecology, which handles nearly 350 to 400 patients every day. Despite being a district hospital, GMSH-16 functions in many ways like a medical college hospital, managing high-risk and referral cases from multiple states.

Dr Singh pointed out that despite staff shortages, the hospital continues to shoulder a heavy responsibility, particularly in maternal healthcare. In 2022 alone, 19,000 deliveries took place here, of which nearly 9,000 patients were from outside Chandigarh. “We do not turn away any patient and handle a large number of referral cases every day,” she said.

Officials believe that starting evening OPDs could reduce patient congestion during morning hours and improve access to healthcare for working individuals.