Doctors who bring help to one of the biggest prisons thru telemedicine
The inmates of the Yerawada jail in Pune soon won’t have to go to the Sassoon General Hospital for their check-up. The doctors of the hospital would treat them through a telemedicine facility that will soon be launched, as per Dr Ajay Chandanwale, the Dean of B J Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital.
Through telemedicine, the time taken for getting expert advice has come down. For instance, the specialist telemedicine centres like Mumbai’s KEM Hospital, Pune’s B J Medical Colle or the Government Medical College in Nagpur and Aurangabad all have medical consultations provided to primary care physicians across the district and sub-district hospitals in the state.
First time telemedicine would benefit the prisoners
However, this will be the first time that the facility would benefit the Yerawada jail inmates. “This will definitely take a load off our shoulders. There are at least 10-12 inmates who require daily OPD visits. While cases of prisoners escaping from Sassoon hospital premises is rare, the entire process is time consuming and requires additional security,” said Bhushankumar Upadhyay, additional DGP (prisons).
Since the jail has video-conferencing facilities, the inmates could interact with the doctors of Sassoon hospital.
According to Dr Ajay Taware, the medical superintendent of Sassoon General Hospital, skin disease was a common issue among the inmates. Not all lesions are complicated ones, so a doctor can recommend the next line of treatment via telemedicine,” he said.
It was in 2007 that the state health department felt the need to reach out to remote primary health centres in various districts including Nashik and Melghat. Over 700-800 patients get referred to higher centers once the problem is diagnosed through the state-run telemedicine project. A committee headed by former director general of the Anti Corruption Bureau recently recommended telemedicine facility for the prisoners.
As per Dr Chandanwale, the effort is unique in that it would bring down the time required to treat an inmate. The entire schedule has apparently been charted- dental problems would be looked into on Tuesday, surgery-related problems on Wednesday, skin problems on Thursday, medicine-related problems on Friday and mental health-related issues on Saturday.
Image credits: indianexpress.com