KOLKATA:
Critical care beds for
Covid patients are full across
private hospitals in Kolkata, forcing many health facilities to refuse scores of patients with moderate or severe symptoms even though they need immediate admission. More than 100 patients had been turned away by five-six private establishments over the past seven days and the number could spiral in case there’s a Puja-induced spurt in number next week, as feared, said hospitals.
Last week, a critically ill Covid patient under treatment at an Alipore hospital was referred to an EM Bypass hospital which, despite having promised a bed, failed to accommodate the person. “We had just one vacancy in the ICU that had to be offered to another critical patient minutes before our ambulance was to pick up the patient from Alipore. We found the patient a berth at a government hospital and our ambulance ferried him there,” said an official of the Bypass hospital.
Though most said they had exhausted their space and resources to add
Covid critical beds, some explored the possibility of converting non-critical beds into ITU or ICU ones to meet the demand.
At Peerless Hospital, two-three critical or potentially critical patients are being turned away every day, as all 21 ITU beds remain occupied and merely one getting vacant every three days. “We have been forced to screen patients over phone, based on their reports and symptoms. Those with severe symptoms are being asked to look for other hospitals since our ITU has been full since a week before the Pujas. Those with minor breathing distress—particularly the elderly—are also being refused as they may need ITU care, which we can’t provide now,” said CEO Sudipta Mitra. Peerless has 130 non-critical beds for Covid. AMRI Hospitals have turned away at least 80 Covid patients since September due to lack of vacancies. The hospital has more than 100 Covid critical beds, out of 265 across its three units.
Charnock Hospital plans to add 15 ICU beds to its existing 52. Critical patients were being refused daily, said the authorities. “We are compelled to turn away patients as ICU beds are fully occupied most of the time. We are adding 30 beds to our Covid unit, including 15 for ICU. We are stretching ourselves to the limit,” said Charnock managing director Prashant Sharma.
The waiting list of patients has been getting longer at Medica Superspecialty Hospital since mid-October. Vacancies have been slow, particularly in ICU, which has already been expanded thrice. The hospital now has 200 Covid beds, including 160 critical care ones. “The flow of critical patients has increased over the past fortnight and despite a pre-Puja expansion, our ICU beds have been full. As it could be risky to admit a critical patient to the ward, we have been refusing patients,” said chairperson Alok Roy. He added they were ready to take over smaller nursing homes in the area. “We can recruit more personnel and set up an ICU if more space is made available,” said Roy.
Some like RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) have been finding it difficult to run their non-Covid unit due to Covid unit constraints. The Covid ICU has been expanded to an 130-bed facility. “Our Covid ICU remains full and we are facing capacity constraints even in non-Covid ICUs,” said zonal director R Venkatesh.