RUHS hosp sees rise in patient visits after facility upgrades

Jaipur: Significant improvements in facilities and services at RUHS Hospital over the past three months has resulted in an increase in both OPD registrations and inpatient department (IPD) admissions.
Several critical services at RUHS Hospital had been largely inactive since the Covid pandemic even as SMS Hospital’s ICUs have been operating at full capacity, and patients struggling to secure beds in the wards.

But now bed occupancy rate at RUHS Hospital has risen to 13%, up from 8.5% in Aug and a mere 5% in Jan. On Sept 10, the hospital admitted 35 patients for treatment in a stark contrast to the admissions just three months earlier.
It was two days after CM Bhajan Lal Sharma visited RUHS Hospital on July 6 that the hospital administration started making efforts to upgrade services. During this visit, Sharma had instructed officials of the medical education department, RUHS Hospital and SMS Medical College to develop a plan to address the current shortage of healthcare staff, including doctors and paramedics, at RUHS Hospital. The RUHS Hospital administration held a meeting with the SMS Medical College administration under the supervision of the medical education department on July 8, seeking to assess the situation and implement strategies to provide patients all necessary services.
“The daily number of OPD patients has now grown by 35%, from 1,500 to 2,300, while the number of daily IPD patients has increased by 50%, from 45 to 90,” said Dr Ajit Singh, medical superintendent of RUHS Hospital.
One reason behind this surge in patient numbers at the hospital is the deputation of faculty members from SMS Medical College, which enabled RUHS Hospital start OPD services in cardiology, nephrology and gastroenterology. “We have introduced endobronchial ultrasound in bronchoscopy services, set up a 5-bed dialysis unit in the nephrology department and initiated facilities such as gastroscopy in the gastroenterology department and angiography in the cath lab,” said Dr Singh.
OPD services were started at RUHS Hospital on July 16 with the existing faculty members along with those on deputation from SMS Medical College and both senior and junior residents available in their respective departments.
The hospital aims at fully utilising its existing infrastructure, including operation theatres (OTs), intensive care units (ICUs), and general beds while also strengthening its manpower availability.
All broad specialty departments such as mother and child services, orthopaedic surgery for trauma, respiratory disease diagnostics, and the mortuary and PMR department for rehabilitation are now operational at RUHS Hospital. To streamline the referral process from SMS Hospital to RUHS Hospital, a nodal officer has been appointed.
RUHS Hospital continues to receive critical patients from the ICUs at SMS Hospital. The hospital has also floated tenders for CT, MRI and sonography machines.