A health worker scanning the QR code pasted on Government Rajaji Hospital premises in Madurai on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: G. MOORTHY
The QR code system implemented at Madurai’s Government Rajaji Hospital earlier this year has won praise from both the public and medical professionals for streamlining ward grievance resolution.Placed across all hospital wards and areas, these QR stickers have enabled doctors, nurses, and sanitary staff to effortlessly report issues directly to the administration.Previously, the system required complainants to submit a written memo detailing infrastructure and civic problems to the Resident Medical Officer (RMO) in charge.The RMO would then review the memo, identify the issue, and escalate it for clearance to technical personnel or the Public Works Department (PWD), which typically handles major civic works at the hospital.L. Arul Sundaresh Kumar, Dean of GRH, noted that while the previous method was systematic, it was unnecessarily time-consuming.“The RMO, who also handles other important hospital duties, would sometimes procrastinate or overlook issues amid hundreds of other responsibilities,” he explained.He added that this manual process also increased the risk of oversights, missing complaints entirely, or causing overlapping efforts due to human error.Instead, the QR system introduced in January 2026 allows hospital staff to scan and upload complaints instantly along with a photograph.“The complainant has to submit the complaint, their details along with a contact number, and the photo,” Dr. Arul Sundaresh Kumar noted.The approximately 200 complaints received daily by the RMO are immediately forwarded to the relevant departmental technician.“If the problem is just fixing a tap, a bulb, or a bed, the local technicians handle it immediately. In cases where the problem is large, the PWD officials are intimated about the issue along with the complaints raised by the hospital staff,” he explained.He also noted that the staff member who raised the complaint is kept informed about the steps taken to resolve it, preventing duplicate reports and overlapping efforts.To evaluate how complaints are addressed, a review meeting between the hospital administrative staff and PWD officials is convened every two weeks, he added.Dr. Arul Sundaresh Kumar stated that during these meetings, the work carried out by the hospital team and the PWD is systematically reviewed and discussed to ensure every complaint is properly resolved.The system initiated at GRH has now been expanded to other hospitals as well.The Dean added that efforts are currently underway to grant public access to the QR code so they can instantly register their complaints.“By doing this way, the public are relieved of a humongous task of identifying ways to raise complaints with the hospital administration. Once the resolving mechanism is fixed and streamlined, the public would also be allowed,” he noted. Published - July 25, 2026 09:02 pm IST
