The Basthi Dawakhanas initiative introduced by the KCR government has remarkably reduced the Out Patient (OP) burden on big hospitals such as Osmania Hospital, Gandhi Hospital, Niloufer Hospital, and Fever Hospital in Hyderabad. The presence of clinics in the neighbourhood has prevented the need to travel to big hospitals for minor ailments and thereby reduced the burden on those health care facilities.
The number of out patients have been reduced from 12 lakhs in 2019 to 5 lakhs in 2022 in the Osmania Hospital, a dip of 60%. The number decreased from 6.5 lakhs to 3.7 lakhs in the Gandhi Hospital which is a reduction of 56%. Similarly, the number of out patients reduced by 73% and 44% in Fever Hospital and Niloufer Hospital respectively.
Establishing Basthi Dawakhanas which offers a slew of quality health care services proved to be a boon for the urban poor. On average, each facility caters to at least 5,000 to 10,000 people every day and provides free doctor consultation, free diagnostic tests and medicines. As on December 2022, 263 Basthi Dawakhanas were operational in Hyderabad and 37 more are under various stages of completion. Telangana government is also planning to set up these facilities across all municipalities in the state.