Kolkata: Seventeen urban primary health centers in Kolkata, and 59 throughout Bengal, will now function as polyclinics with the OPD night and diagnostic facilities.
There will be one of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation company clinics respectively in 16 regions, with two at Borough VI – one at Mirza Galib Street and the others at King Subhodh Mullick Square.
There will be three clinics like under the Bidhannagar region of Municipal Corporation too.
According to sources, there will be specialists in the polyclinic which will help run outdoor clinics for medicine, midwifery and gynecology and three-week pediatrics and eye clinics twice a week.
Recruitment of specialists to run this polyclinic will begin soon.
The identified urban health center will provide specialist services and will be the center to provide tele-consultation services, said an official.
“The night’s opens must be encouraged,” the official said.
The official said that the timing from this polyclinic would be decided according to the needs of the community, because in many areas it was felt that night clinics could have better footsteps.
He said that their specialist and timing names in the polyclinic must be well displayed so that local communities can find out about the new service facilities offered.
The diagnostic clinic will have a hematology analyzer, ELISA machine and X-Ray machine.
The urban development department has been asked to visit sites for the functioning of the initial polyclinic and diagnostic center.
The official said that there must also be a connective-up with the nearest hospital for the purpose of referring to critical patients.
The State Health Department on Monday gave a nod to run 77 Polyclinika and 102 diagnostic centers in urban health centers.
Mission issued by Swasthya Bhavan on Monday gave a nod to the Urban Development Agency (SUDA) to operate 59 Pollinika and 85 diagnostic centers and request KMC to operate 17 polyclinic and diagnostic centers in health centers.
A KMC senior health official welcomed moved and said that community-based clinics were very important during this pandemic and diagnostic clinic would help people.
He said that now the health unit of the KMC function as a fever clinic and provides care for diarrhea, malaria, dengue fever and diabetes, besides their babies and mothers.
But if this clinic is used correctly by turning it into a low-cost diagnostic and polyclinic center, more services can be provided because the government hospital is tight, the doctor said.
He added that there was a plan to set the ECG and X-ray machines in some KMC clinics.