The ‘May I Help You’ counter at Patna Medical College and Hospital. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Help eludes patients at the “May I Help You” kiosk of Patna Medical College and Hospital.

The booth inaugurated with much fanfare on July 11 last year hardly serves any purpose. Poorly managed by unskilled employees, patients get sketchy details of admitted patients, the location of their wards and the doctors on duty.

The kiosk was aimed at guiding patients and their relatives with information related to medical services.

Little over a month after its inauguration, the information kiosk proved to be of little help to hundreds of patients coming to the hospital. Attendants of patients complained that though the kiosk had been set up near the entrance to the hospital, it mostly remains unmanned.

Falguni Tiwari, a resident of Danapur, whose granddaughter is undergoing treatment at the hospital for the past one week, said: “I was told that the kiosk is supposed to work 24x7. But when I reached the hospital last week with my granddaughter around 8pm after she fell from the roof, nobody was available in the kiosk to help me with suitable information. I had to find the emergency ward on my own.”

She pointed out that even in the past week, she had not seen too many people at the assistance counter.

Bipin Kumar, a resident of Vikram, said the people at the counter were not qualified and could not communicate properly with those seeking help.

“Moreover, the kiosk does not keep updated information on the names and details of patients and basic information like the wards where they are admitted to,” he said.

A guard on duty at the kiosk, however, said they were doing their bit to deliver best possible services. “We attend a number of queries everyday. Some people come here to ask about their relatives who have been admitted to the hospital, some others want to know the way to a particular ward,” said Jainendra Prasad, a security guard on duty. But, he said the updated list of patients was made available at the counter only around 2pm everyday.

Authorities admitted that the kiosk could not deliver services in the best possible manner because of shortage of employees. “The kiosk has been helping relatives of patients. We try to provide the details despite shortage of manpower,” R.K. Singh, the deputy superintendent of the hospital, said.