Cuttack, March 18: Authorities of the SCB Medical College and Hospital here have planned to improve the existing patient care system of the premiere state-run hospital.

Soon, a patients’ calling system at the hospital will be upgraded. Apart from this, efforts have been made to install LCD screens at the general outpatient department (OPD).

Names and serial numbers of the patients at the OPD will be displayed on the screens, so that they get to know when their turn comes to consult the concerned doctor.

The new system will be introduced at the OPDs of orthopaedic and gynaecology departments on an experimental basis. Later on it will be extended to the other departments.

Usually, the OPDs of surgery, orthopaedics and gynaecology departments are generally crowded.

Patients have to wait for several hours before meeting the relevant doctors for consultation. Hospital authorities said the daily patient turnout at the OPD is around 2,000. So, in order to get things organised, the new system would prove to be very helpful.

“We are going to start the new patients’ calling system soon. Initially, two LCD screens to display the patients’ names and serial numbers will be used at the OPDs of the orthopaedic and gynaecology departments of the hospital,” said senior hospital manager Srikanat Mahapatra.

“The new system will bring in more transparency. Earlier, many patients used to consult doctors from the back door, which created problems for others waiting in long queues for hours,” said Pradipta Pradhan, a resident of Balasore.

Earlier, the SCB authorities had outsourced the ticket-registration system at the OPD to deal with the rush of patients.

The registration process was computerised and 10 counters have been operating since May last year.

Now, with the new facility in place, patients, to a great extent, can easily register and consult doctors.

Before that the registration used to be done manually.

Moreover, there are plans to set up two help desks at the hospital. This is likely to established by April 10.

The main objective of the help desks is to aid patients and their attendants to gather information about various departments, doctors and facilities available at the hospital easily.