BENGALURU: As coronavirus cases rise in Bengaluru, doctors and nurses from the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) are being deputed to other hospitals and Covid care centres.
With this, the work hours are set to get longer for them. Normally they would work for seven days and quarantine for 14 days but the latter has reduced to seven days now.

Dr Smitha Segu, Task Force Head and Nodal Officer for Covid-19 at Victoria Hospital said, “We are sending our staff to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases, Bowring Hospital, Haj Bhavan which is set to become a Covid care centre, ESI hospital, etc.” She added that the staff of their community medicine department is deputed for surveillance and screening activities in the city.

When asked if supplying staff to other hospitals will create vacancies at Victoria Hospital, Dr Segu said right now they have enough staff but if more patients are admitted in the future, then they will have shortage of staff, as doctors will also have to be sent to other hospitals.

In any given week, 75-80 doctors are stationed for Covid-19 duty in Pradhana Manthri Swastya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) Hospital under Victoria. There are 500 staff members including professors and assistant professors as well as 600 PG students.

“Moreover, asymptomatic patients do not require a doctor to be present all the time. For every 35 asymptomatic patients there is one doctor, two nurses and one group D employee. And for every 25 symptomatic patients with or without co-morbidities, there is one doctor, one nurse and one group D employee,” she added.