Kolkata: In a bid to enhance efficiency in patient transfers, the Bengal government, on November 1, introduced the Centralised Referral System (CRS) across five of Kolkata’s leading medical colleges. This new system is designed to empower hospital authorities, enabling them to manage patient transfers with a higher level of precision, efficiency and care. These medical colleges are SSKM Hospital, Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMC) and NRS Medical College and Hospital on an experimental basis. Sources in the health department said that the installation of the electronic display boards would be done in the next couple of weeks.
The patients from Howrah and Hooghly will be referred to Calcutta Medical College, those from South 24-Parganas will be referred to SSKM and CNMC; and those from North 24-Parganas to RG Kar. From now on the patients brought to government hospitals in Kolkata for admission from these districts will be monitored by CRS. By virtue of the system, health officials will be able to check bed availability at these five state-run hospitals in the city. Chief secretary Manoj Pant previously announced plans to launch an online referral system aimed at easing the workflow for doctors and postgraduate trainees. This system had already undergone a successful pilot phase at MR Bangur Hospital, setting the stage for a broader rollout. The system would enable the district hospitals to connect with the city’s medical colleges under the common platform where a centralised mechanism would be evolved to ensure hassle-free transfer of patients from one hospital to the other. The system was run on a trial basis in the city’s medical colleges a few days ago. The Kolkata Police have already held a security audit of all the five medical colleges in Kolkata. It was learnt that the hospitals which would refer patients would have to mention why the hospital was referring the patient to another hospital.
Moreover, the system will show whether the beds are available in the higher government-run healthcare facilities across the state. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during her recent meeting with the health officials directed the latter to introduce a centralised referral system which will not only handle the transfer of patients in a better way but also help relatives of patients get an idea where their patients will be transferred according to the availability of beds. Incidentally, the agitating junior doctors’ additional demands included the establishment of a centralised referral system for all hospitals and medical colleges in the state and also the implementation of a digital bed vacancy monitoring system.