BGH demands TrueNat machine to cut delay in test results

Bokaro: Bokaro General Hospital (BGH), the only treatment centre for Covid-19 patients in the district, has asked the governmentt to install a TrueNat testing machine at the hospital to overcome the delay in getting test reports from sadar hospital, which has three such machines. BGH officials said the delay in getting Covid reports is leading to delay in providing treatment to non-Covid patients.
A BGH official said, “Treating suspected Covid patients without their test report is risky for everyone, including doctors and other healthcare staff. The BGH management is trying to install an RT-PCR machine with the help from the district administration but that project is getting delayed. TrueNat machines are the need of the hour.”
In several departments like neurosurgery, burns, gynaecology, cardiology, orthopaedics and others, BGH is regularly getting critical Covid-19 patients. Another hospital staff said, “In case of emergencies, it is not feasible to wait for a Covid-19 test report. But in such cases, who will take the responsibility if anything happens to the patient?”
Till Thursday morning, Bokaro had 93 virus cases of which 46 are active and two have died.
Bokaro civil surgeon Dr A K Pathak said, “I have forwarded BGH’s request to the health department since the decision to allot TrueNat machines lies with them.” State health secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni said the department will consider BGH’s request. He added, “We will soon make provisions to install a TrueNat machines at BGH.”
The health department has, so far, installed 72 Truenat machines across the state, including three at sadar hospital in Bokaro. In addition, the department has set up five RT-PCR testing laboratories for Covid-19 tests across Jharkhand.