Aapli Chikitsa contractor given one week to fix issues: BMC

Mumbai: The contractor of the civic body-run Aapli Chikitsa disagnostic centres have been given a week’s time to get their act together as there have been complaints that the centres are either shut or not giving reports on time, said an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday.

The issue was reported by HT on March 18. On Thursday, the BMC conducted a review meeting of Aapli Chikitsa diagnostic centres, which was led by Sanjeev Kumar, additional commissioner (Health), BMC and was also attended by Pallavi Jain, managing director of Krsnaa Diagnostics Ltd, the contracted firm operating these centres.

Informing that the contractor has been given one week to fix the issues, Kumar said, “They (lab) did not carry out dry run before starting which must have led to these issues. We have asked them to fix the problem at the earliest and review it on Monday.”

The company Krsnaa Diagnostics Ltd had started operating the Aapli Chikitsa diagnostics centres from March 6 and a lab technician of the company, requesting anonymity, had said the reports were delayed by eight to 10 days because the newly-employed phlebotomists (who collect blood samples) were not trained in operating the software and therefore faced issues. This led to technicians having to feed data manually by visiting the company’s Mumbai office in Dombivali, leading to delays.

Talking to HT, Jain said, “It’s a teething phase. We have started the project from March 6 and are streamlining it. Any project that’s new takes time, right? It cannot happen overnight; it’s a larger project. All the appointments have been done for required phlebotomist. There was a little time lapse which we are trying to fix.”

Jain added that the they need a week’s time and said, “I know certain of my competitors are trying to push this news. We just want one week’s time and then I’ll give you all the details.”

Jain also said the company is using latest technology in the project. “We are using mobile tablets at centres to automate the process, whereas previously, it was a manual technology,” she said.

Aapli Chikitsa (Your diagnosis) — rolled out four years ago to provide Mumbai citizens basic and advanced pathology tests at subsidised rates.

There are 139 tests that can be done at these centres, of which 101 tests are basic and 38 tests are advanced tests. Under the scheme, the corporation outsources laboratory testing for all maternity homes, peripheral hospital and dispensaries to the private laboratory. Citizens can avail basic tests at the cost of ₹50 and advanced tests at the cost of ₹100 from these centres.