It was Vice President Leni Robredo herself who apologized after announcing that her office’s free online medical teleconsultation service will have to stop receiving new requests Monday because of backlogs.
Robredo, however, clarified that the Bayanihan E-Konsulta initiative will resume its normal operations Tuesday, April 13.
“Kaya (That’s why), despite our reluctance to do so, I am announcing that, tomorrow, Monday, April 12, we will not be receiving new requests first. Isang araw lang po ito (This is just for one day),” she said in a Facebook post.
“Kailangan lang po namin ng panahon para ma-integrate na sa aming system yung ating external volunteers at maayos namin yung lahat na technical issues at backlogs (We need to use this time to integrate into our system our external volunteers and to fix all technical issues and backlogs),” she explained.
The Bayanihan E-Konsulta Facebook page was officially launched last week but it soon met technical issues because of the number of inquiries it received.
The initiative aims to decongest hospitals and provide free medical advice to COVID and non-COVID outpatients who do not have access to doctors.
The OVP asked for volunteer telephone operators and doctors to spearhead the project and has since received 2,300 signups, 500 of which are medical doctors.
Robredo said her office did not expect the “overwhelming” number of patients who need to consult with a doctor via the initiative’s free data access.
“Kaya kailangan po namin mas lalong paghusayan ang ating platform at process flow (That’s why we need to do better in our platform and process flow),” she added.
After apologizing for the one-day stoppage of teleconsult services, Robredo noted that her office’s resources are stretched but she understands how many people need to consult with a doctor remotely.
“Gusto pa nating magpatuloy ang programa, at makatulong sa mas marami pang tao, kaya (We want to continue with the program and help many more people, that’s why) we need a day to work through our backlogs and make our system even more responsive,” she said.
But while her office’s new initiative is overwhelmed by requests, Robredo can’t help but think of how much more work is being done by the country’s health care workers who face seemingly insurmountable challenges in hospitals every day.
She thanked her supporters, volunteers, and health care workers around the country, and promised to work harder to provide the service that they need.