DMK convenor and Opposition leader Siva urges Jipmer to mitigate impact of new software system

The Leader of Opposition and DMK convenor R. Siva has urged Jipmer to undertake measures to mitigate the work disruption and impact on patient care services following the roll out of a new hospital management information system.

In a representation to Jipmer Director Vir Singh Negi, Mr. Siva expressed “deep concern over the manner in which the new e-Sushrut online portal, developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), has been implemented at Jipmer by abruptly discontinuing the earlier patient registration and medical records system”.

In a large tertiary healthcare institution like Jipmer, particularly one dealing with life-critical medical records and continuous patient care, the sudden abandonment of the existing system and the overnight enforcement of a new digital platform was a fundamentally incorrect and risky decision, Mr. Siva said.

As a matter of established administrative and technological practice, the old system should have been allowed to continue alongside the new system for a reasonable transition period. Only after the new portal had become fully stable, free from technical glitches, and after doctors and staff, had gained complete operational familiarity, should the earlier system have been phased out. The failure to follow this essential transition protocol has directly resulted in the present chaos and disruption, he said.

Pointing out that following the abrupt implementation, doctors were unable to access past medical records, investigation reports, and treatment histories of patients up to December 2025, the DMK leader said this has severely affected continuity of care and has made accurate diagnosis and treatment planning extremely difficult.

In several instances, doctors were being compelled to depend on physical files, handwritten notes, or improvised external records to treat patients in an unacceptable situation in an institution of Jipmer’s stature and one that significantly increased the risk of medical errors,” the representation said.

The DMK convenor also flagged the serious difficulties faced by laboratory personnel in retrieving test data and updating automated values, leading to delays in investigations and consequent delays in treatment. In addition to problems in dispensing drugs from the pharmacy, several functions, including patient registration, billing, and discharge processes have also slowed down considerably.

Jipmer caters to approximately 11,000 patients every day and handles around 90 deliveries daily. Any disruption at this scale has severe consequences. The present situation has particularly affected vulnerable patient groups, such as cancer patients, cardiac patients, pregnant women, newborns, and children. Delays arising from system failures in such cases are not merely administrative inconveniences but pose a direct risk to patient safety and human life.

Mr. Siva called for restoring uninterrupted access to historical patient data without delay, rectifying technical deficiencies in the e-Sushrut portal on an urgent basis, conducting comprehensive, hands-on training for all medical and technical staff, and operating the old system concurrently until the new portal is fully reliable and operationally mature.