7000 Slum Dwellers to benefit from a new neighbourhood clinic
Calcutta Rescue has just opened a new clinic in the Tangra slum to provide free healthcare to its 7,000 inhabitants.
The clinic, which was officially opened on November 15, is named after long-serving former CR chief executive, Gazi Mohibor Rahman (known as Dr Bobby) who died last summer, with funding from Direct Relief in the USA.
Dr Ghosh who heads CR’s medical work explained the background to the new project: “Initially our Street Medicine ambulance would visit the area, usually once a week. But the population of the Tangra slum area is nearly 7,000. Most of them are young mothers and children. And recently the team faced an influx of more and more patients with chronic illnesses like asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure which need constant attention. So we decided a proper clinic would be the best idea to care for the slum residents.”
The clinic will be staffed by two new doctors, a new nurse, a pharmacist, a clinic supervisor, and three other members of staff who will manage patient documentation and other activities. As part of CR’s ongoing project to digitalise all its data, all the patient information gathered at the new clinic will be recorded digitally, allowing rapid access and removing the risk of the patient data being lost to flooding and fire.
The clinic will be open to the public five days a week.