About 2.5 months ago, the civic-run KEM Hospital in Mumbai launched a help desk line. In this duration, the hospital's helpline desk has received over 3,500 inquiries.
Remarkably, the hospital's telephone number has not only been inundated with calls from Mumbai residents, but an astounding 40% of the inquiries come from outside the city.
In its outpatient department (OPD), Mumbai's KEM Hospital sees more than 2,000 patients each day. About forty percent of these people are from outside of Mumbai, and they frequently have to navigate the large campus as they go from department to department. For patients, this has long been a persistent problem. Ultimately, the hospital installed a help desk in November 2023 to address this concern. This program offers guidance not just to in-house and out-of-office patients but also to outside patients who contact the unit's helpline number.
Since November 2023, the hospital’s help desk has received about 60 to 70 calls each day, inquiring about beds, doctors, and OPD availability. During the day, the desk is manned by two employees, and during the night hours one employee is there to answer calls.
The majority of calls are about available beds. Attendees at the desk use a real-time dashboard to verify bed availability and promptly inform callers. Previously, there was a shortage of beds, so patients and their families would rush to the hospital and spend time being turned away. With this system, people can save important time.
The dean of KEM Hospital, Dr. Sangeeta Rawat, emphasises how important the Help Desk is to support patients and their families. Understanding that not all guests have complete knowledge about the hospital, the Help Desk is an essential tool for answering questions.
Dr. Rawat said that they get calls from districts like Palghar, Pune, Nashik, Nanded, and beyond. Recounting a memorable incident, she shared that a concerned relative of a patient from Uttar Pradesh sought information about bed availability. Dr. Rawat also said that the constant stream of inquiries, especially those asking about the availability of ICU beds, highlights the essential assistance the Help Desk offers in addressing a variety of medical questions.
For new patients and their families, navigating KEM Hospital might be difficult because they are not familiar with the department's routines. In response, a Patient Friend Room was set up in front of the Emergency Department, providing support to allay fears and uncertainties that people may have when looking for information about the departments and times of the Outpatient Department.
Apart from setting up the help desk and rooms for normal patients and their family members, KEM Hospital is also known for treating patients suffering from rare diseases. There are about 107 patients in the hospital suffering from several rare diseases.
Only 20 of the 107 patients at the hospital who have uncommon diseases have received treatment with the grant amount so far. This indicates that the financial support offered by the Centre to treat them at KEM Hospital in Mumbai has proven insufficient, forcing other patients to wait months for the necessary care.
A grant approval of INR 5 crore has been given to the KEM hospital under the National Policy for Rare Diseases (NPRD). However, the hospital—which has been named a Centre of Excellence (COE)—has only received INR 3.9 crore yet, and that amount has only been used to treat 20 patients, meeting the needs of 18.69% of the patients who have registered.
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