“These services will be provided at the primary health care level and the doctor can further link the patient to the bigger hospitals if required. A doctor at the HCWs will be provided with computers and internet connection to consult with GMSH 16 or civil hospitals,” said Yashpal Garg, health secretary, UT. He said, “For this, an order of 203 computers has been already given. Subsequently, we will use the e-sanjeevani platform where a dedicated team of doctors will be posted to offer video consultation at home.”
Using this service, the residents of the nearby area will not be required to go all the way to civil or district hospitals unless there is some serious health issue that requires their physical presence there.
The Chandigarh administration as directed by the adviser to the UT administrator, has further decided that a proper room with computer and video consultation facility to be provided at each of the HWCs.
“The health department has already started teleconsultation at the GMCH-32, GMSH-16 and HWCs with the available infrastructure. It is expected that all the required systems will be in place in the next three-four months and the tele-medicine will be implemented in a big way in UT,” said Garg.
The ministry of health & family welfare recently announced that Chandigarh has achieved second rank in the country among union territories in teleconsultation at health and wellness centres.