ECHS: Teething problems being weaned

05 Jul 2009
A few steps that are being taken or have been taken by the ECHS to improve the service provided to Veterans need to be promulgated for the information of all.

The salary of all employees contracted in Polyclinics has been increased by up to 50 %. This includes OIC Polyclinic, Drs etc. This will result in employment of better personnel and should also reduce the incidence of employees leaving for greener pastures.

The earlier restriction on referring NCR veterans to empanelled hospitals in Delhi has been removed. Veterans in Noida for e.g. can now be referred to any other empanelled hospital within the NCR and vice versa. If this problem is being faced by veterans in other stations please do press the issue with the MD Echs through your Polyclinic or write directly to– HQ ECHS at– mdecshs at bol.net.in

The earlier proposal to shift the Noida polyclinic to Sec 52 has been shelved. The proposal now being actively considered is to shift the AWHO office and the MI Room for serving personnel to some other area, or to have a small section separately for serving personnel within the enlarged ECHS polyclinic. During my interaction with The Dy MD ECHS I had stated that shifting the MI room would not be fair to the serving personnel and should not be attempted. In fact I had stated that at no time should veterans ever be provided facilities at the expense of our colleagues in Service. Shifting the AWHO office was the obvious answer.

As earlier mentioned Veterans can now go to the following hospitals of repute in Delhi viz Gangaram, Apollo and Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Hospital Rohini AFTER TAKING PRIOR Sanction from the ECHS. They will have to clear the hospital bills of these hospitals at normal hospital rates directly and will only be reimbursed ECHS rates.

A major problem being faced by Veterans in nearly all stations is of issue of medicines for three months in case of chronic ailments. The MD ECHS had very sensibly directed all polyclinics to issue three months medicine in such cases to cut out the unnecessary inconvenience of monthly visits specially where polyclinics are located at inconvenient distances. The DGMS Army has however overruled this decision resulting in utter confusion at most stations. He basically has two reasons. Firstly, problem of bulk procurement and secondly on the ground of medical ethics wherein he feels that a patients condition needs to be reviewed every month before the treatment is continued. On both counts he is wrong. There will be no need for bulk procurement since it is unimaginable that 100 percent of the chronic patients will suddenly land up in hordes to draw their three months entitlement. Even in the normal course the three months drawl will be spread out to nearly three months. A simple statistical check or a queuing plan would illustrate this. Secondly, I can state from personal knowledge that my cardiologist at Escorts ALWAYS asks me to continue my treatment and report to him for a review after six months. FINALLY whenever I go to draw my monthly quota of medicines for my chronic ailments, which are HEART, BLOOD PRESSURE AND PROSTATE I get the prescription from a Gynaecologist, which is given to me thankfully without a review. WILL SOME MEDICO VETERAN WHO READS THIS PLEASE SPEAK TO THE MEDICAL TOP BRASS AND SUGGEST TO THEM THAT THEY WILL ALL BE JOINING OUR FRATERNITY IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE.
Brig SC Kuthiala (Retd)