Gangtok Government Hospital introduces wait in lines (1966)

Pic: Internet

I have always tried my best to be among the first few lines while visiting a doctor in a hospital. But on many occasions, I don’t have any option but to be in a long-standing queue.  It is an exciting finding that I read in the old Kanchenjunga magazine, dated 1966, of Gangtok Government Hospital about the wait in lines. 

Some six decades back, hospitals had no wait lines as we see today.  People from far places in Sikkim used to drop by Gangtok Government Hospital at any hour of the day and make haywire for the doctors and the hospital staff.

In July and August of 1966, a new rule was brought into practice by the Royal Durbar to set up proper wait-in lines for the visiting patients at the hospital for medical check-ups.  It was also established that personal records of patients' illness should be kept in the hospital.  It was also directed to the Hospital authorities that Prince Tenzing and his brother would regularly inspect the new rule.