To improve patient care, the public health department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced a series of upgrades to be implemented across all civic-run hospitals in Mumbai by the end of this year. The initiative includes the construction of dedicated toilet facilities for relatives of admitted patients to ensure better hygiene and dignity for caregivers who spend long hours attending to patients, the introduction of a centralised digital dashboard displaying real-time bed availability across all civic hospitals to streamline patient admissions and reduce the time spent by families searching for vacant beds, particularly during emergencies or peak seasons, and the expansion of pipeline gas systems to all peripheral hospitals.
Toilets for kin
As per the new plan, all 16 peripheral and four major hospitals will have dedicated toilets for those accompanying OPD patients and inpatients. “While we are trying to get CSR funds for the construction of all toilets, in case some are left, we will build them from our funds. Sharing toilets with patients puts the family members at high risk of infection and also endangers those undergoing treatment,” said Ughade. The first such set of toilets is under construction at Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali. “Piping work for the same will soon begin,” said the supervisor on site. These toilets, along with a bathing facility, have been constructed in the basement.
Dashboard for bed availability
Inspired by the COVID-19 period, the public health department has engaged experts to develop a dashboard that will either be hosted as a standalone website or integrated into the existing BMC website to provide information on the status of each bed at maternity homes, peripheral, and major hospitals. “At present, patients and hospital administration have to call each hospital and ask if a bed is available, especially in cases of ICU and NICU. With this dashboard, anyone will be able to check bed availability and can move the patients immediately without wasting time. As all the peripheral hospitals are now being converted in multi-speciality hospitals, having this dashboard will help people to know if a bed is available in the nearest hospital from their location, especially in the case of emergencies,” said Ughade.
Pipeline gas
Learning from the ongoing war and its impact on the entire world, officials have planned to propose a gas pipeline facility at the peripheral hospitals. “While all four major hospitals already run on pipeline gas, the peripheral hospitals are under construction. We are planning a pipeline gas facility at each of them so that during the construction process, only the lines can be put in the connection can be made,” said Ughade.
