SRMS’ Hospital On Wheels: An Initiative with a human touch

July 3, 2017
Posted by admin

SRMS PG medical students reach out to rural areas

Think you know all about emergency medical facilities of the country? SRMS’ Hospital On Wheels may change your mind. With an alarming rise of population along with a steep dip down of medical facilities in India, may be emergency air-lifts and ambulances are not nearly enough anymore. Plus, what happens to ones who cannot afford emergency access to hospitals or specialist health care sitting in remote rural areas of the country? SRMS Trust has been thinking hard!

Shri Ram Murti Smarak (SRMS) Trust was established in the year 1990, to commemorate the memory of veteran freedom fighter, Gandhian, ex-parliamentarian, ex-minister U.P., Late Ram Murti Ji. The primary objective of the Trust is to provide and promote education and research in the field of Engineering & Technology, Medicine, Humanities, Science and Management.

Apart from its focus on education, SRMS Trust undertakes a number of social and charitable activities to help marginalised sections. In order to provide specialist health care to the people of remote rural areas around Bareilly, the Trust has set up ‘Hospital On Wheels’. Through this endeavour, specialist healthcare services reach people who need it rather than the other way around.

Broadly, the services helps in detection and treatment of Cervical Cancer, Breast Cancer, Tuberculosis, Hypertension, Diabetes, Deafness, Blindness, and Malnutrition. Hospital On Wheels also helps provide antennal care to the pregnant women in rural areas, which otherwise is an area of deep concern.

The service has come a long way since its launch. Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Akhilesh Yadav had inaugurated the service on 18 October 2015. On 27 October 2015 the first visit was held at village Bhairpura in block Bhojipura and the first round of the service was completed on 3 August 2016, covering all 15 Blocks in the area. A total of 118 visits were organized in 111 Nyay Panchayats and 1 Nagar panchayat in this first round.

A total of 30,232 patients were seen in all who were given the required care, counselled, provided pathological/radiological investigative services, or admitted to SRMS Trust run hospitals.

It has been an inspirational journey for the Doctors who were part of this initiative. Some of their reflections on what they went through:

“Initially, I thought ‘how could diagnostics be mobile’. Having been through this journey, I now realise that anything is possible if people are motivated enough. Hospital On Wheels initiative is a unique opportunity to interact with the rural people in their own villages. The way they welcome the SRMS IMS mobile hospital team is really inspiring for us to keep doing this work”

Dr. Manveer Singh
PG 2nd year, Dept. of Community Medicine

“Through mobile hospital project we get to know the district Bareilly, its people and their health issues. The distribution and variety of afflictions is very vast and this kind of a service helps us to understand problems and how the occur in a better manner. It is heart-warming to see all these people receive quality healthcare for the first time. It is also deeply motivating to provide the elderly with the gift of sight through cataract operations.”

Dr. Alpna Saxena
PG 1st year, Dept. of Community Medicine

“This service helps us to not only gain hands-on training but also learn how to communicate with people so as to make them comfortable and counsel them not only about their health problem but also regarding different types of addictions like tobacco, pan masala, alcohol, etc. A major change contribution that we make through this service is addressing women’s health, which is actually where many health problems begin. It gives us immense satisfaction when many patients who were unaware of their hypertensive or diabetic status get to know that they are suffering from these diseases and they thank us for diagnosing their problem at their doorstep.”

Dr. Shailesh Gupta
PG 2nd year, Dept. of Community Medicine

“The Hospital on Wheels’ unique features of mobility makes it accessible, affordable and less expensive in every way. The initiative has proven to be a great relief to the mass population. Basic health services of general OPD, medicine, ENT, Opthalmology, and specialized services of breast mammography, Xray, Pathological tests such as RBS, Hb estimation, Audiometry are the excellent facilities provided to them. As being the part of this Hospital on wheels, I would say in one word “ This bus is a brain for medical science.”

Dr. Ruchi Arun
PG 3rd year, Dept. of Community Medicine

“Perhaps the most encouraging aspect for me has been getting patients to take the pledge to quit tobacco after our counselling service. Apart from this, the contribution that we made towards preventing diseases has made us feel proud of what we do and this service. This service is proof of ‘where there is a will, there is a way’.”

Dr. Islam Arfin
PG 3rd year, Dept. of Community Medicine

“I believe only few institutions in India are providing something as dynamic as this in terms of health facilities. Hospital on Wheels was initiated with a goal to provide essential health services to the underserved people of Bareilly. In last 1 year it covered the whole district of Bareilly. By the help of it we have provided services like free medicines, OPD services, Pathological and Radiological investigations at the minimal cost to a large number of people.”

Dr. Ratnesh
PG 3rd year, Dept. of Community Medicine