Kolkata: On Oct 31, the son of an elderly woman rushed her to the Ramgopalpur Health & Wellness Centre with severe abdominal pain. Evaluation by the health officer at this health unit in Burdwan's Galsi block suggested signs of acute appendicitis.
Payel Roy, the officer, immediately initiated a real-time teleconsultation through the Swasthya Ingit portal with a physician at Burdwan Medical College & Hospital (BMCH). An urgent referral was made to the medical college, and the patient was operated on the same day at the hub centre for the telemedicine services.
Swasthya Ingit, the state's health initiative to bring specialty services even in rural areas through telemedicine services, has touched the lives of many more patients.
This initiative has marked a milestone by crossing 7 crore consultations.
"The initiative delivers daily teleconsultations via 11,000+ health and welfare centres and 63 hubs at higher facilities. It enables 8,000+ consultations daily with 9,000+ doctors," CM Mamata Banerjee posted on X on Monday.
Telemedicine services initiated by the state health department for Covid proved a boon for anxious patients. The govt formally launched these services in Aug 2021.
While it started with neuro services for stroke management, the consultations have now expanded to 10 other disciplines: cardiology, oncology, obstetrics, TB, gastroenterology, paediatrics, nephrology, viral hepatitis, psychiatry, and breast diseases.
These services have also been rolled out to correctional homes.
"Tele-cardiology and tele-neurology are important initiatives through which we are providing emergency treatment to patients with conditions like myocardial infarction and stroke. Tele-neurology alone has provided services to 9,552 stroke patients with 1,575 thrombolysis done," said a senior state health official. Health officials said that the most demanded service is paediatric and maternal care.