A senior official of the Health department said, “We are trying to link service providers and beneficiaries of the NRHM in a transparent manner. The department is conducting a facility survey to identify the primary and secondary health centres, and hospitals in every area, as per the population and the area they are supposed to cover.”

These findings will be put together in a map that will be provided on the website of the health department, in English as well as Hindi. The department will also put up contact details of every health care worker under NRHM — ranging from house-to-house workers, such as Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), to the Chief District Medical Officer(CDMO). “This will help people contact the designated health care workers in their area, and also spread information on where they can seek treatment for which ailment,” the official explained.

Officials hope that this mechanism will organise patient navigation in Delhi. “As dispensaries and primary health centres do not function effectively, patients travel to government hospitals for every small ailment such as common cold and diarrhoea. This creates the perennial problem of hospitals overloading, and critical patients often have to wait for treatment, resulting in loss of precious time,” the official said.