BMC Hospitals OPD to start at 8 AM now, biometric must for doctors

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday directed all major hospitals in Mumbai to implement the biometric system which will be linked to doctors' salary, aiming to reduce long queues of patients.

Meanwhile, a biometric fingerprint system has also been installed in hospitals on Wednesday.

According to the circular, it states “Commencing at 8:00 am, all major medical municipal hospitals will enforce mandatory biometric registration for doctors upon entry and exit. This biometric attendance system will be intricately tied to the salary of every doctor through SAP”.

This initiative was taken after the visit of Additional Municipal Commissioner Dr Sudhakar Shinde to several municipal hospitals on Tuesday. During the visit, he observed a huge queue at the OPD for registration and consultation with doctors. Speaking to the Indian Express Dr Shinde said, “We are streamlining the process. Introducing biometric attendance will enhance transparency regarding the availability of doctors. Moreover, with early registrations, we anticipate a reduction in lengthy queues at the OPD”.

The move has been initiated due to inconsistency in the attendance of doctors, leading to delays in the morning outpatient department (OPD) schedule. Late arrival of doctors at the hospital causes inconvenience to patients coming from far-flung areas like Palghar and Navi Mumbai. It has been observed that KEM, Sion, Nair and Cooper hospitals receive more than 10,000 patients from different parts of Maharashtra. Of these, 40% of these patients come from outside Mumbai. “We received complaints about patients facing long waiting periods in OPDs due to delays in starting the OPD. We have instructed the deans to ensure the biometric system is followed and OPDs are started on time”, mentioned Dr Shinde to Hindustan Times.

However, according to officials, biometric facilities were already there in the hospitals but it was stopped during the Covid-19 pandemic. On this, Dr Neelam Andrade the director of major civic hospitals, said “The biometric was earlier not linked to the salary. If the doctor reports late to the OPD, it will now directly affect their salary”.

On the first day after the implementation of the plan, the crowd of patients in the hospital reduced by noon, which usually remained even after 1 pm. Due to this, patients often had to return from the hospital as the OPD timings used to get over. Besides, all the washrooms in the OPD building were also cleaned.

Many complaints have been received from the patients regarding the late arrival of doctors, especially senior doctors, in OPD. It has been alleged that many senior doctors maintain private clinics close to the hospitals where they work. They often reached the OPD early and left before time, leaving the entire workload on the junior resident doctors. When Indian Express asked Dr Sudhakar Shinde on this matter, he said, "We will initiate serious action if such allegations are proven."