Karnataka Health System Development Project (KHSDP) has introduced a Biometre to record the attendance of the staff at Neelamangala Government Hospital in Bangalore Rural. It is for the first time in Karnataka that such a system has been introduced as an experiment to check the attendance of the government hospital staff. If the experiment is successful, then the Biometre will be introduced in all the 250 government hospitals in the State.

The instrument installed in the 50-bed government hospital in Neelamangala in the outskirts of Bangalore allows the staff of 75 members- doctors, nurses, ayahs, ward boys, clerks, and pharmacists to be punctual for work. The computer in the hospital has been updated with the name and register number of each staff member in the hospital. A matchbox-sized machine called Biometre kept besides the computer records the fingerprints of members when they place the index finger on it. Since each member's fingerprint is unique, and has initially been recorded, the computer has the ability to record and match the fingerprint with that of the staff member. The computer records an absent when another person tries to mark the attention for a colleague, explained Naina Rani, deputy director KHSDP.

Every morning the staff and expected to log on to their account and 'sign' the register by recording their finger print that appears on the computer screen on the Biometre. The time, name and date of the staff member are recorded and similarly at the end of the day the staff are required to sign.

Many government hospital staff do not report to duty on time. Administrative officials hesitate to pull them up for fear of consequences. But with the installation of the system at the Neelamangala Hospital, the attendance among the staff has improved, BA Venkateshalu, district health officer Neelamangala told pharmabiz.com

The introduction of the Biometre has brought in much relief as the tracking of attendance and punctuality of the staff was a cumbersome task. With the installation of the Biometre on April 22, 2003, the staff are more disciplined. A team from the KSDP visited the hospital to study the system. An official has been trained to oversee the functioning of the system. There is full attendance in the hospital and the staff are on time, he said.

But still there are some hassles as there are chances where the staff are capable of slipping out on personal work after signing in, informed Venkateshalu. "This is because those who shirk work will always find ways to do so."

According to Naina Rani, Ram Web Technologies are working out methods to handle the change of shifts in hospitals to record the attendance.

Once the staff has signed in the morning, it gets recorded in the computer which is linked to a network in the Director's office in Bangalore. Higher officials pay surprise visits and make phone calls to check if the staff are present at the hospital. If there are complaints regarding absence, then the staff will have to mark their attendance twice in the morning.

The cost of the Biometre is Rs. 47,000 and has been installed by Ram Web Technologies, Bangalore. For the Neelamangala Government Hospital, the KHSDP has advanced only Rs. 15, 000 for the scanner. This being a pilot project, we will be giving the remaining amount of Rs. 32,000 in course of time, she said.

With the implementation of this system the attendance of the staff can be checked at any government hospital in Bangalore. The future installations will be based on certain factors like cost and expertise, stated Naina Rani.