Chandigarh, Oct. 26 -- Amid the central government's emphasis on implementing the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), Chandigarh health department is focusing on creating Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) IDs for citizens. However, the necessary digital infrastructure to provide online healthcare services is missing in the district and civil hospitals. Consequently, Government Multi Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, and the civil hospitals in Manimajra, Sector 22, and Sector 45 offer no online appointment, report collection, or payment facility. Launched in 2021, the central government's ABDM intends to revolutionise the healthcare sector by digitalising the medical record-keeping of each patient, as well as enabling online appointments, lab reports, and consultations. The ABHA is a unique 14-digit health ID for a person, linked to their Aadhar card, where all the individual's medical records can be stored and shared with a doctor. The ABDM's broader aims include providing all citizens with ABHA IDs and digital storage of medical records through a unified health interface. This interface encompasses features like booking OPD appointments at hospitals, booking tele-consultations, discovering the availability of critical care beds, locating lab and diagnostic services, and booking home visits for lab sample collections. So far, around 9.75 lakh ABHA IDs have been created in Chandigarh. However, four years after its launch, the key digital services-such as online appointment booking, consultation, and report access-are still missing in the UT's primary and secondary healthcare facilities. The district hospital alone sees a daily outpatient department (OPD) footfall of over 3,000 patients, while each civil hospital handles 600 to 800 patients. A health department official said that ABDM's implementation has been difficult due to a staff crunch and lack of funds. "It wasn't until this year that an ABDM programme management unit was finally established, which has a dedicated team of 18 employees to implement the central government health scheme," the official added. The long waiting time in queues, exacerbated by the lack of a proper queue management system, make hospital visits painful for the over 4,000 patients seen daily. At GMSH-16, patients often endure multiple long waits on any given day: first at the registration counter, then at the consultation room, followed by the billing counter, and finally for giving samples. Without a proper queue management system, senior citizens suffer the most, as there is no separate line designated for them. Furthermore, GMSH-16 lacks a single counter for sample collection or report dissemination. After giving samples, patients are forced to collect their reports from multiple locations and at different times. Avtar Kaur, a 59-year-old waiting to get her report from the Blood Collection Centre at GMSH-16, said, "I had to collect my reports from different places and at different times. First, I collected one report from Room No. 130 in the OPD building at 12 pm, and then had to wait until 2 pm to get another one here. For a third report, I'll have to come back on Monday. For my ultrasound, I've been given a November 4 date. If they provided reports on the phone, I wouldn't have to wait here or come specially to get them." Atul Sharma, another patient waiting in the same line and a resident of Sector 22, added, "I collected one report at 12 pm, waiting here for the second, and will get the final one on Monday." Director health services, Dr Suman Singh, said "The work of digitalisation of services is in process. The local area network (LAN) is to be installed in GMSH-16 soon. LAN setup would help in easy data sharing within the hospital and all labs will be connected to the system to make reports accessible on phone." For online payment, Dr Suman said that most of the tests in the hospital are free of cost and online payment has also been available. "In case there is any discrepancy, I will check," she added....