“It’s like walking into a storybook,” says Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Hospital Medical Superintendent Siddarth Ramji as he walks into the open, bright and newly-functional children’s Out-Patient Department there.
The Department walls indeed transport visitors into the age-old and much-loved story of the rabbit and the tortoise painted on the walls in bright and child-friendly colours.
Yet another story is that of the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly. A play area too is being readied on the floor, which is to house toys, books and other safe play options for the young ones.
This paediatric OPD on the fifth floor is part of the Hospital’s newly-operational seven-storey OPD, which started functioning this Monday.
“The idea behind creating a totally unique paediatric OPD was simply to give the children coming here a warm, non-intimidating and joyous trip. A child is usually brought here in distress and we wanted to ensure that as he/she walks in, he/she finds a happy place in the Department. The play area is aimed at engaging children in a useful manner while they wait to meet the doctor,” explained Dr. Ramji.
The Medical Superintendent added that the unit was designed to eliminate fear.
“Of course, we still have to procure toys and other recreational items for the children, but the process is on. Donations [toys and play material] are welcome.”
Speaking about the design and concept, Shaaz Ahmed of Mud n Water, a private design production firm, said: “This was an exciting project for us and we have tried to engage children through animation on walls with two easy stories. The design is simple, the colours sturdy and the ambience aimed at creating curiosity, all while still being pleasing to the eye. A group of 10 students from the Delhi College of Art worked with us for over half-a-month to paint the stories on the walls.”
Clearly loving the entire concept and new ambience, the beaming mothers waiting at unit said: “We feel like we are in a foreign country.”
Shahnaz from Chandhi Chowk, who was there to get her child investigated for recurring fever, said: “The Department is clean, spacious and beautifully designed. The children seem to love it and we are happy with the facilities offered here. It is a huge improvement over what we have had to deal with until recently. Previously, overcrowding, jostling and unbearable heat made the entire OPD experience a torture.”
‘New OPD block aims to reduce space stress, help staff run their units more effectively’
Constructed at a cost of around Rs.40-50 crore, the seven-storey out-patient department block of Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Hospital is now open to the public, with the hospital administration ironing out minor problems faced by the patients and staff.
Hospital Medical Superintendent Siddarth Ramji speaks about the latest addition.
How has the new infrastructure helped the patients and staff?
The new OPD block was started this Monday and we undertook a mammoth 36-hour operation to shift the entire OPD block to the new building, which is earthquake resistant and adheres to the environmental requirements as prescribed by the government.
The new building is operating from a spacious 25,000 sq. m area as opposed to the previous 4,000-5,000 sq. m . This mean that this centrally air-conditioned building has a sitting capacity of 2,000-plus people at any given time. The hospital gets around 5,000 patients each day and this additional space is aimed at reducing space stress and helping the staff run their units more effectively.
Have all the OPD units become functional?
While most of the medical specialities have been shifted and given an entire wing/floor, we are still working at shifting the obstetrics/gynaecology unit, which we hope to re-locate with minimum discomfort to the patients. The unique feature of the units/floors is that small/minor operation theatres are functional with each speciality on the same floor, which ensures that patients don’t have to walk from one department to the other.
What are the other development plans that the hospital will be undertaking?
Thirty per cent of the patients coming here are from outside Delhi. With all its limitations, Delhi is still able to provide quality and free medical care. With restricted amount of land available to us, the only way to expand then is vertical. There are two immediate projects at hand — we are now working at easing parking woes, at least for our staff, and expanding our orthopaedic units to also become a trauma centre.
