Mumbai: Making Covid times less daunting for children, doctor pins smiling pic on PPE

MUMBAI: The civic H east ward which comprises of areas like Bandra, east and Kalina was among the first few in the city to have reached its 1,000 Covid positive patients mark in the months of April-May this year when the city was still struggling with the coronavirus crisis amidst the nation wide lock down.
The fear caused most people and even doctors in the area to ensure they stayed put, indoors. At such a time a small 15 bedded three decade old Dr. Agarwal's children's hospital in Bandra -east, ensured they kept themselves operational and also decided to provide free of cost tele consultation to anxious parents who were worried to bring their kids out in times of a pandemic even when several other hospitals and doctors had started charging patients for advising them over the phone.
"My conscience never allowed us to charge these patients for advising them over the phone after having operated from the very same place for the last 34 years. There were some who did ask us how much they should pay after we provided them with consultation over the phone, but we decided against it. One can provide tele consultation for a day or two maximum after which the child would need physical examination. We knew that the non covid patients would be hit badly during the months of the outbreak and kids whose ailments could not be detected early on could face complications. I felt it was hence my duty to ensure I stayed operational in times of this pandemic," said Dr. Bharat Agarwal, who had hired special taxi and rickshaw services for his staff to ensure they could safely report to work during days of the lockdown.
"There were no salary cuts for our staff but I am also lucky that most of my staff from 'maushis' to doctors and nurses who have been with us since many years and many of them voluntarily said they would report to work. We provided them with all safety gear and I personally taught them on washing their hands rightly or how they should be keeping their things once they went back home," he said. Dr Agarwal, 60, had also pinned a fun picture of him on his PPE suit to make the experience for his little patients less daunting considering they have been used to seeing the smiling faces of the hospital staff at other times they visited it.
Local Bandra east MLA Zeeshan Siddique also recounts how it was a struggle with the infection rate in the ward being so high. "We had several discussions with the BMC also requesting them to ask private nursing homes to stay open as we did not think it would be right for everyone to head to major hospitals when the virus was spreading so rapidly," he said.