Drawing nearly 100 patients a day, the evening OPD at the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, seems to be serving its purpose – improve access to specialist care for people with work commitments during the day.
Launched on February 24, the GMSH-16 evening OPD has recorded a footfall of 20,485 patients so far, according to director health and family welfare Dr Suman Singh.
Combined with the footfall at two other government hospitals – Manimajra civil hospital and Sector 22 civil hospitals, the total number of beneficiaries until the third week of October stood at 27,080 patients.
The evening OPDs run from 5 pm to 7 pm. The idea is to ease the morning rush, improve access to specialist care for people with work commitments during the day, and reduce referrals to tertiary care hospitals. It was rolled out by the health department in its district and civil hospitals following directions from UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, who had called for strengthening secondary healthcare and making specialist consultations more accessible after working hours.
In August alone, GMSH-16 recorded 3,202 patients at its evening OPD, averaging 128 patients a day. However, a direct comparison with morning OPD attendance is not available to establish whether the new service has reduced the morning patient load.
Manimajra civil hospital introduced its evening OPD in May 2026, while the services at Sector 22 and Sector 45 civil hospitals began on October 14 and October 22, respectively.
“Manimajra has attended to 3,393 patients since June, while approximately 30 patients have attended Sector 22 since October 14. Footfall at Sector 45 will be monitored,” Dr Singh said.
The range of specialities varies across the hospitals. GMSH-16 offers consultations in medicine, surgery, paediatrics, gynaecology and orthopaedics. Manimajra provides medicine, paediatrics and ENT services, while Sector 22 offers ENT consultations, with more specialities being introduced. Sector 45 provides general surgery and psychiatry.
Diagnostic facilities also vary according to operational arrangements. Laboratory and diagnostic services may be strengthened depending on patient demand and feasibility, Dr Singh said, adding that the effectiveness of evening OPDs would be reviewed periodically, with scope to add specialities, specialist doctors and diagnostic services.
The health department had made attempts to expand evening healthcare services in the past too. Evening OPDs were introduced at GMSH-16 in 2015. Last year, the department was also working on a proposal to extend evening OPDs to all 37 civil dispensaries and health and wellness centres by hiring MBBS doctors on consolidated salaries.
The proposal, first suggested by the advisory council’s social welfare committee in 2023, envisaged evening clinics at five prime locations with large labour populations. The aim was to enable daily-wage workers to access medical care after work without losing a day’s wages. However, the proposal did not materialise.