Hyderabad: A Health Centre established in Masjid Ishaq in N.S. Kunta in 2018 by Helping Hand Foundation & SEED, USA, which has been working as a primary health care centre in the Urban slums for weaker sections has now reopened post lock down. That too, with the first of its kind corona compliant protocol and TRIAGE at a primary care level worth emulating.
Given the rise in COVID-19 cases in Old City, it is very important to have a clinic which is safe for the patients, doctors and staff. Additionally, fever surveillance is being carried out and counseling will be given for home isolation care by the doctors from the Masjid Health Centre to isolate and make a quick referral for any suspected case.
All patients coming to the clinic are being assessed in a TRIAGE, which have trained counsellors, who are doing thermal screening and checking oxygen saturation levels. They later entered the details in an ICMR developed risk assessment form which gives scores on a scale of one to ten.
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Any patient with a score of greater than four will be triaged for home isolation care. After getting free medicines, the counsellors will monitor and track their health status regularly.
At any given time only eight patients will be allowed inside after they get clearance from the TRIAGE after being sanitised and given face mask, the rest will be moved to the waiting area in the adjacent block.
All patients walking into the clinic will be provided face mask and wall mounted hand sanitiser are placed for sanitising the hands before and after consultation. All the doctors and staff are provided N-95 mask and gloves for their safety.
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Provision is also has been made for daily fumigation of the clinic area along with all the equipment and instruments used in the clinic by a dedicated team of sanitation workers.
The doctors in the clinic will see one patient each while six others will wait for their turn at any given time. The vitals and complaints of the six patients will be checked by the nurses in the second triage station inside the masjid and an OP slip will be handed over to them for consultation.
Fever Surveillance
A Fever Surveillance protocol has been prepared by the doctors that will track the fever cases reported at the centre by a team of counsellors from the TRIAGE. Daily tracking and monitoring will help identify the symptomatic cases that need to be tested for COVID and clinically managed in hospitals.
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Suspected cases who present with symptoms of SOB, desaturation and tightness in the chest, will be referred to COVID centre.
Large exhaust fans have been placed on in the dental OPD and a mounted table fan is placed adjacent to the dental chair, that will continuously blow the air away when the dental surgeon is performing the procedure with the PPE as a safety and protection measure.
All patients walking into the clinic will be provided face mask and a wall mounted hand sanitiser are placed for sanitising the hands before and after consultation. All the doctors and staff are provided N-95 masks and gloves for their safety. A provision has also been made for daily fumigation of the clinic area along with all the equipment and instruments used in the clinic by a dedicated team of sanitation workers.
“Given the rise of the pandemic. the safety and protection of our doctors, staff and patients is very important and hence we have come up with this COVID compliant model that will give the doctors and patients the required confidence in providing and seeking quality health care services which are presently overwhelmed,” says Mr. Mujtaba Hasan Askari of Helping Hand Foundation.