Imagine the Union Health Ministry under the Narendra Modi government launching low-cost health clinics across the country and calling them Bharatiya Janata Clinics. Doesn’t seem right, right? Something about governments in power using publicly-funded projects to further the party name — Jayalalithaa is a long-time champion of this and almost all parties do it — seems just not correct.

Which is perhaps why the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) should have stuck to calling the new low-cost health clinic launched in Delhi “Mohalla Clinic” instead of “Aam Aadmi Clinic”. But then that would mean letting go of your stamp on a good idea. And that is too much to ask of a political party, however, new wave it claims to be.

Image Credit: AAP Twitter

It’s about 12 in the afternoon and Dr Saurabh, stationed at the Aam Aadmi Clinic in Peeragarhi in West Delhi, has already diagnosed about 200 patients. He says he would have liked to spend more time per patient. But given the crowd outside, it’s becoming a little difficult. The crowd, comprising mostly women, though, is not complaining. They’re happy to have avoided long queues at big government and private hospitals.

The Aam Aadmi Clinic in Peeragarhi is the first of 1,000 such low-cost clinics that the Delhi government is planning to set up across the capital city by 2015. It cost the government between Rs 15 and 20 lakh and is equipped with a dispensary and blood-testing facilities. The clinic is open between 8 am and 2 pm, and will be visited by a pediatrician and gynecologist every week.

The idea is to take the load off the city’s bigger hospitals like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Dr Saurabh agrees that if more such clinics spring up across the city, it will make life much easier for specialty doctors.  He likens the clinic to an Out Patient Department, or an OPD, and says he’d like to wait and see how the experiment unfolds. He is all praises for the facilities at the clinic, especially the strong air conditioning. “It’s comfortable here and I can attend to patients in a better way. When more clinics come up, we’d be able to devote more time to each patient,” he says.

Dr Saurabh

“I would have been irritated by now attending to so many patients in any other dispensary working in the heat. But I need to devote more time to each patient to give proper medical attention. That’s not happening for now.”

Uday, who’s in charge of the dispensary, too, agrees. “Unlike the dispensary at Nihal Vihar where I was working earlier, this is better and everything is functioning well,” he says.

Uday

“The government should maintain the standard, things shouldn’t stop working — not like other government dispensaries where coolers stop working and everything is dingy and dirty.”

Outside, patients waiting to meet Dr Saurabh hope that the clinic will change their opinion of the government healthcare system. Most admit they prefer going to private hospitals because the doctors are nicer even though it costs them more.

Simran, resident of Peeragarhi

“I would have wasted a whole day in any other government hospital. Plus, the doctors there scold us so much that I don’t feel going there. Hearing them shout is enough to get me sick. I have come here to get my sister-in-law checked. She has been keeping very unwell. Let’s see how the ilaaj goes.”

Mona, resident of Peeragarhi

“I have seen what private hospitals can do to your savings. I lost my mother and my father and we had to sell our house on both their treatments. But then if there is a medical emergency, there is no other option. I don’t like how doctors treat us at government hospitals. No matter how poor we are, they have no right to insult us. I would like for this clinic to change that. Also, since it is in our mohalla, I can come here any time and get complete care for myself and my family.”

Rajendra Singh and his wife, from Bihar

“I have come here with my wife to get her treatment. I am visiting Delhi and was told that I should check out the new clinic once. In Bihar, we don’t have such clinics but we get health cards where we can claim free treatment at hospitals. This looks nice though.”

Many like Simran and Mona relate their experiences of bigger hospitals and are glad that they have a clinic in their vicinity. It saves them the money and time spent on travel, but “Dekho kaisa hai [let’s see how it is],” is a familiar refrain when you ask people what they think about the Aam Aadmi Clinic. It’ll take more than a new name to erase the skepticism that’s associated with government healthcare facilities. And with good reason. Delhi’s top central government hospitals face a shortage of doctors and specialists. They are about 36 hospitals and 260 dispensaries under the Delhi government that have reported shortfall of essential medicines. In fact, unavailability of medicines was cited as the biggest problem faced by patients in a paper submitted to Centre for Civil Society.

Given that the Delhi government has not come out with a concrete plan to tackle these already existing problems in healthcare, how does it plan to open and run 1,000 new Aam Aadmi clinics in a sustainable manner?

“Diagnosis is key in healthcare, so it is important to have proper diagnostic centres along with these clinics. People should be able to get X-rays, MRIs done, only then will the burden on bigger hospitals reduce. It’s important for the government to ensure long-term sustainability before setting up a 1,000 new centres,” says Rahul Verma, founder, Uday Foundation.

“I’ve heard from sources that the clinics will have private doctors who will be paid Rs 30 per patient. The clinics are likely to work more like dispensaries and reduced the OPD rush,” says KK Aggarwal, Gen Secretary of Indian Medical Association. He adds that even the Rs 15-20 lakh cost for setting up the clinic could have been avoided if government clinics were allowed to refer patients to private players across the city.

Aggarwal, like patients at Peeragarhi, says he’ll wait a while and see how things proceed before he passes a verdict on the Aam Aadmi Clinic. Newslaundry’s repeated attempts to get in touch with officials in the Delhi government to know more about its plans for the Aam Aadmi Clinic were futile.