Many patients, but few doctors at mohalla clinics

At the newly-opened mohalla clinic in the hardscrabble neighbourhood of Trilokpuri, one doctor gets barely a minute per patient. Set up as a primary health centre by the Aam Aadmi Party government, the clinic among 104 others in the capital is meant to take the load off hospitals run by the state government.

The mohalla clinic in east Delhi, which is open between 8.30 am and 1 pm from Monday to Saturday, draws an average of over 350 patients a day. Other clinics in east Delhi draw 200 patients a day in as many hours, according to the medical director (east region), Dr Sunil Kumar.

Dr K.K. Aggarwal, honorary secretary-general of the Indian Medical Association, said it is about time the government opens more mohalla clinics. According to him, ideally a doctor should spend 10-15 minutes per patient.

“We get three categories of patients: genuine ones with problems like diabetes and hypertension, patients with minor ailments like cough and cold, and the non-serious patients,” Dr Yogesh Kumar Pundir told this reporter, after attending a patient who came to the Trilokpuri clinic complaining about pain in her leg.

The fact that these clinics are getting a steady stream of patients means that there is a demand for more such health facilities, Dr Aggarwal said. The Delhi government plans to open 1,000 mohalla clinics by the year-end. Set up at a cost of around `15-20 lakh each, these clinics usually function out of rented premises. Dr Kumar said the clinics offer 200 free basic tests, including the ones related to diagnosis of thyroid, typhoid, malaria and vitamin B12 deficiency. Medicines are also free of cost. The government has empanelled private doctors at these clinics. They are paid `30 per patient.

“The mohalla clinics will enable the government hospitals to pay more attention to admitted patients,” Dr Aggarwal said. The multi-specialty Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital in Khichripur, barely a five-minute drive from the mohalla clinic in Trilokpuri, caters to over 3,000 people each day in its outpatient department.

According to the hospital’s medical superintendent, Dr Amita Saxena, there are eight aam aadmi mohalla clinics in the neighbouring areas like Pandav Nagar, Geeta Colony, Trilokpuri, Kondli and Mandawali.

The AAP government has recently approved 110 mohalla clinics in city government-run schools. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal reportedly directed the health department to set up these clinics without losing much time.

The government’s move however, has faced criticism as the All-India Parents’ Association, in its letter to the CM, complained: “How can you permit outsiders in schools during school hours If a clinic is exclusively for school students, it is welcome.” Sources said the government is wary of running all the mohalla clinics from rented spaces, as the BJP has been alleging that these clinics have been set up in the houses of AAP workers.

However, according to Dr Aggarwal, “Mohalla clinics are a good concept. What these do is make healthcare more accessible to the public. There is a definite need to increase the number of clinics because only then we will get to see the benefits.”

At about 12.50 pm on Thursday, the mohalla clinic at Trilokpuri had more than 10 people queued up in the waiting area — all of them women or children from the neighbouring localities. Minutes later, when the clinic denied entry to new patients, a woman told the reception, “My brother-in-law has fever and cough. Please allow him to see the doctor. He had come before but saw only ladies in the queue. So he went back.”