OPD stands for Outpatient Department, which is a section of the hospital designed for the treatment of outpatients, people with health problems who visit the hospital for diagnosis or treatment, but do not require a bed or to be admitted for overnight care. The outpatient department provides diagnosis and care for patients that do not need to stay overnight and offers a wide range of treatment services, diagnostic tests, and minor surgical procedures. Patients register at a reception desk and are examined and given treatment as outpatients before being admitted to the hospital at a later date as inpatients. When discharged, they may attend the outpatient clinic for follow-up treatment. The outpatient department is an important part of the overall running of the hospital and is normally integrated with the in-patient services and staffed by consultant physicians and surgeons who also attend inpatients in the wards. The outpatient department is usually located on the ground floor of the hospital with car-parking facilities nearby, and wheelchairs and stretchers are available for non-ambulatory patients.