Sadguru Netra Chikitsalaya invests in change at hospital partners through training

SEVA India

Improving hospital systems takes time and intense periods of training. Building on results of the needs assessment with two mentee hospitals, Sadguru Netra Chikitsalaya (SNC) developed tailored training programs for the hospitals. Gomabai Netralaya (located in Neemach) and Bhaktivedanta Hospital located in Barsana) sent staff to SNC for this extensive training programs for key hospital staff. Beyond the focus on each team members’ specific skills development, the training also addressed broader issues of good management for high volume service delivery hospitals and team work.

Five staff from Gomabai Netralaya each participated in training for a full month: one in set up and use of electronic data management system and four in a variety of key areas including Optical sales, Operation Theater Management, Patient Counseling, and Outreach Management. The six trainees from Bhaktivedanta Hospital came to SNC for a full week. The team included an ophthalmologist, a data/systems manager, and four mid-level ophthalmic personnel.

The staff member in charge of the Bhaktivedanta Hospital Outpatient Department, Mr. Sachin Ambre, noted the changes in data management he was learning. “We are having a manual system of data management and it is not easy to track and monitor the data,” he said. However, he recognized the value of these new skills and resources “It is a time-taking process while your system is efficient and it will be helpful to manage properly.”

In addition to learning the benefits of electronic data management, the two hospitals’ IT trainees also took data entry courses and learned important protocols around data management.

During the feedback session, Gomabai Hospital trainees said that they have a good Outpatient Department in their hospital but currently they are not tracking the acceptance rate for spectacles. From now on, they will be more attentive to this important indicator given its importance for the patients’ vision and also for the earned revenue of the hospital.

The Gomabai Hospital team reported the value of witnessing a consistent operating theater management system. They were particularly impressed by SNC’s standardized protocol which is followed by all ophthalmologists in the operating theater. At their own hospital they reported that their ophthalmologists do not follow such a standardized system when they are operating in the theater. They will work to manage the ophthalmologists in such a way as to ensure efficient procedures in the operating theater as is done at SNC. This is particularly important as their hospital develops higher volumes of surgery. Based on the exposure at SNC, one trainee reported, “We are also using a counselling system in Outreach but we have to focus more on counseling to get more paid patients which leads to sustain our hospital.”