Bhutanese applicants seeking medical checkups for Australian visas are facing significant delays, with wait times of up to three months or more to see a doctor. This is despite making the service available from the hospitals in Gelephu and Monggar earlier this year, to attend to the increasing number of applicants. Prior to that, the National Referral Hospital in Thimphu was the lone service provider.
At the National Referral Hospital, every evening, people line up and wait for their turn to register for the E-Medical service.
Most of them are unsure if they will get the chance to register or if the two-hour wait will go in vain. Registration starts at 4:30 PM and ends at 6:30 PM.
“It is very difficult to get an appointment. After registration, we have to wait for more than three months,” said Rinchen Dorji, one of the applicants.
“Today, I have applied for the medical checkup, and I got the appointment only in July. I even tried to get an appointment in Monggar and Gelephu. But appointment dates are booked till July in these two hospitals,” said another applicant, Tshering Choki.
Tashi Namgay, one of the applicants also said “it’s been more than a month since my wife and I applied for a medical checkup. I have not received any confirmation calls yet. I would be grateful if the concerned authority could look into the matter.”
The medical officials, on the other hand, say their primary responsibilities at the hospital often hinder effective service delivery for visa medical checkup.
In addition, lack of adequate machines and technicians is also a challenge. There are only three X-Ray machines at the National Referral Hospital.
According to the medical superintendent, more than 20 technicians apply for either resignation or extraordinary leave during every Human Resource Committee meeting, which happens once every two weeks.
As a result, those staying back have to work on weekends to ensure uninterrupted service delivery.
Ugyen Dorji
Edited by Phub Gyem
