OP services now in evenings too at govt hospitals in Hyderabad
Hyderabad: Expanding the scope of medicare services to the urban poor, the State government has decided to introduce evening out-patient services at government hospitals in the city. Presently, government hospitals operate OP services only in the morning. The new initiative will help scores of poor and needy patients avail doctors’ consultations even in the evenings.
Health Minister T Harish Rao said that the OP services will start from 9 am and continue till evening at government hospitals in Hyderabad. This facility will be launched in the coming weeks, the Minister said here on Friday. Participating in a series of programmes related to the inauguration of medical infrastructure at the Chest Hospital, Erragadda, ENT Hospital, Koti, and Sultan Bazaar Maternity Hospital, the Minister said 12 additional radiology labs, which would provide ultrasound, 2D Echo, X-ray, mammography and other imaging services, would be launched in the city. As part of this initiative, 10 radiology labs would be launched on May 11 while the remaining two would be taken up in the coming days.
The Health Department will also formally launch the Rs 5 per meal initiative for attendants of patients at 18 government hospitals in Hyderabad from May 12. “Apart from the Rs 5 per meal scheme, we will also construct shelter homes within the premises of medical colleges and hospitals in the city. A few shelter homes are ready while such facilities have been incorporated within the design of the upcoming new super speciality hospitals,” Harish Rao said.
The Minister also reiterated the State government’s demand that the Centre has to provide free Covid booster doses for all eligible individuals in Telangana. He said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare should immediately provide Covid booster dose stocks so that they could be administered at Government Covid Vaccination Centres. Last month, Harish Rao wrote to union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, urging him to provide booster doses free of cost at government Covid vaccine centres. At present, the MOHFW has made booster doses available only at private hospitals.
