Following poor turn out of out-patients at the 15-dispensaries run by the Corporation, instructions have been issued to the dispensary staff i.e., medical and paramedical assistants to reach out to the slums and provide healthcare to the poor at their door steps.
Corporation Commissioner G. Latha said that fully equipped dispensaries in Corporation limits remain under utilised, hence the initiative to extend the facilities to the needy.
The Corporation has 20 maternity hospitals which are witnessing a steady increase in the number of deliveries handled, while the out patients turn out at the dispensaries were found to be dismally low.
The Commissioner said that two Ayurveda dispensaries had only 4,396 outpatients in July and it went down to 4,196 in August, while the two Sidha dispensaries had 6,102 out patients in July and it went down to 5,452.
Allopathic dispensaries
Eleven Allopathic dispensaries had 21,122 out patients in July and it went down to 18,558 in August.
The dispensaries function from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Given the rate of fall in out patients turn out, it was decided that the afternoon working hours will be utilised for visiting the nearest slums in rendering healthcare both curative as well as preventive for the slum dwellers.
Only through this, the under utilised or unutilised infrastructure in health care could be put to effective use, Ms. Latha said.
Paramedical staff
Dispensary doctors and paramedical staff have been told not to wait for the patients at the dispensary and instead reach out to them at their door steps.
To augment the utilisation, it was also decided to have boards displaying the area falling within the jurisdiction of the dispensary for the public to make effective use.
The Corporation has 20 maternity hospitals. The civic body has also decided to display boards falling within the jurisdiction
