Aam Aadmi Clinic: A solution to emerging patient mobs in Punjab

Just a couple of days ago, after the launch of the first 25 AamAadmi Clinics, the outdoor patient count crossed the data at 4475. In Punjab, where the primary healthcare system has been a never-ending challenge, it is now emerging as an answer to handling patients’ grieving mob and paralysed referral system. Patients mob often land in private hospitals due to the non-availability of resources in public sector healthcare centres.

The Punjab health department strived hard to create this concept and had talks with different states who had impeccable health systems. “As many as 75 ‘AamAadmi Clinics’ will be dedicated to people during the first phase,” a revised statement issued by the Punjab government’s Information and Public Relations Department quoting Health Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra said Friday evening.

Punjab Health Secretary Ajoy Sharma, whose brainchild is the AamAadmi Clinic, shared with The Daily Guardian that more than 2000 MBBS doctors have applied for the AamAadmi Clinic, where they have appointed 142 doctors so far and the rest will be appointed soon. The Punjab government has decided to give these doctors a fixed salary along with incentives per patient. The doctor would end up having a salary of around Rs 75,000 in his/her pocket by the end of the month.

These MBBS doctors would not only examine and diagnose patients, but would also check their credentials to see if they could be referred to larger institutes like PGIMER for further treatment.This will help curb the pressure on patients at tertiary care hospitals.

An ‘AamAadmi clinic’ will have a staff of four to five people, including an MBBS doctor.