MUMBAI: The BMC’s ‘aapla dawakhanas’, first inaugurated in October 2022, will complete 2 million (20 lakh) consultations on Saturday, said civic officials.
The aapla dawakhanas, originally named Hindu Hruday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray or HBT clinics, were planned on the lines of Delhi’s mohalla clinics to improve access to healthcare for the urban poor. Most operate between 3pm and 10pm to enable people to consult a doctor or specialist after work hours; patients can get free consultation, medicines, and access to 140-odd tests.
“Our analysis showed that although HBT clinics have seen nearly 20 lakh visits, the number of patients visiting our hospital outpatient departments (OPD) hasn’t dropped at all,’’ said additional municipal commissioner Dr Sudhakar Shinde.
This, he said, meant that those who reached HBT clinics had either previously visited private doctors and spent money in the process or didn’t seek medical help at all.
“We seem to have found the missing link in urban healthcare,” said Dr Shinde.
The BMC has an elaborate healthcare pyramid with primary healthcare centres and dispensaries at the base and tertiary-care hospitals at the top. In 2022, it was decided evening clinics would help urban poor who lose a day’s wages if they visit doctors and get tested.
The first HBT clinics were thus inaugurated on October 2, 2022, and the idea was to have at least 10 such clinics in each ward. Additionally, a polyclinic with specialists would be available for a cluster of every five to six clinics.
BMC public health officials said that there are 160 clinics and 27 polyclinics. Most clinics work out of civic dispensaries; after BMC doctors finish their day’s work, doctors on contracts take over the space to run HBT clinics. The polyclinics mostly operate out of specially ordered portacabins.
“We get roughly 16,000 patients daily. In a month, HBT clinics see roughly 2.7 lakh consultations,’’ said a doctor. The BMC’s existing dispensaries correspondingly see about 3 lakh patients a month.
In the last civic budget in February, the BMC allocated Rs 50 crore to increase the number of HBT clinics from 106 to 227. “We want to increase the number to 250-260 clinics in a phased manner,’’ said Dr Shinde.
Health economist Dr Ravi Duggal said, “It is good that the BMC is strengthening the primary healthcare network. If people can go to a dispensary or HBT clinics for cough and cold, they will not crowd the BMC’s hospitals for minor health issues and lead to optimum utilisation of the public health system.”
There is, though, a need for many more such clinics, he said. Considering the city’s population is close to two crores, he said the need is for almost 800 primary healthcare clinics, dispensaries and/or HBT clinics.
The aapla dawakhanas, originally named Hindu Hruday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray or HBT clinics, were planned on the lines of Delhi’s mohalla clinics to improve access to healthcare for the urban poor. Most operate between 3pm and 10pm to enable people to consult a doctor or specialist after work hours; patients can get free consultation, medicines, and access to 140-odd tests.
“Our analysis showed that although HBT clinics have seen nearly 20 lakh visits, the number of patients visiting our hospital outpatient departments (OPD) hasn’t dropped at all,’’ said additional municipal commissioner Dr Sudhakar Shinde.
This, he said, meant that those who reached HBT clinics had either previously visited private doctors and spent money in the process or didn’t seek medical help at all.
“We seem to have found the missing link in urban healthcare,” said Dr Shinde.
The BMC has an elaborate healthcare pyramid with primary healthcare centres and dispensaries at the base and tertiary-care hospitals at the top. In 2022, it was decided evening clinics would help urban poor who lose a day’s wages if they visit doctors and get tested.
The first HBT clinics were thus inaugurated on October 2, 2022, and the idea was to have at least 10 such clinics in each ward. Additionally, a polyclinic with specialists would be available for a cluster of every five to six clinics.
BMC public health officials said that there are 160 clinics and 27 polyclinics. Most clinics work out of civic dispensaries; after BMC doctors finish their day’s work, doctors on contracts take over the space to run HBT clinics. The polyclinics mostly operate out of specially ordered portacabins.
“We get roughly 16,000 patients daily. In a month, HBT clinics see roughly 2.7 lakh consultations,’’ said a doctor. The BMC’s existing dispensaries correspondingly see about 3 lakh patients a month.
In the last civic budget in February, the BMC allocated Rs 50 crore to increase the number of HBT clinics from 106 to 227. “We want to increase the number to 250-260 clinics in a phased manner,’’ said Dr Shinde.
Health economist Dr Ravi Duggal said, “It is good that the BMC is strengthening the primary healthcare network. If people can go to a dispensary or HBT clinics for cough and cold, they will not crowd the BMC’s hospitals for minor health issues and lead to optimum utilisation of the public health system.”
There is, though, a need for many more such clinics, he said. Considering the city’s population is close to two crores, he said the need is for almost 800 primary healthcare clinics, dispensaries and/or HBT clinics.
