Nodal officers at war room, jumbo centres to monitor Covid bed allotment

THE BRIHANMUMBAI Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday issued updated guidelines for better coordination between ward-level war rooms and jumbo care facilities in terms of bed allotment after receiving complaints that patients were not getting beds in Covid hospitals.

The BMC will appoint nodal officers in two shifts – 3 pm to 11 pm and 11 pm to 7 am – at 24 ward-level war rooms and jumbo facilities.

Each war room will also have nodal officers to oversee operations, especially at night, to facilitate bed requirements for incoming patients and suspected cases. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) will come into force with immediate effect, the BMC said.

If a patient visits a jumbo centre, nodal officers will direct him/her to a facility with a bed, thus ensuring that he/she does not have to rush from one hospital to another, looking for admission. Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said the move aims to ease the hospitalisation process for a patient if he/she cannot get through war-rooms and rushes to a jumbo centre.

At present, the shortage of beds is acute for ICUs and ventilators.

On Saturday night, Akbar Ali Sadriwala (82) visited multiple hospitals, seeking an ICU bed. His son, Kaid Johar, could not get a bed for four hours. When an ICU was available at the NESCO facility around midnight, Sadriwala died.

Doctors at hospitals are witnessing several cases where patients are getting admitted at a critical stage due to delay in admission. Most of these cases come at night, doctors said.

“Ward-level helpline numbers are usually busy. Mostly they answer, saying ICUs are full. We did not hear back from the authorities despite being slotted for the waiting list,” said Shashikant Gosave, whose uncle Chandrakant Gosave is Covid-positive. Chandrakant got an ICU admission after visiting three centres.

As of April 11, of 9,946 oxygen beds in Mumbai, 8,439 were occupied. Of 1,302 ventilators, only 32 and of 2,529 ICUs, 89 were available.

The city’s active caseload, which has doubled in past 14 days, stands at 91,108.

“Nodal officers shall be appointed for accurate and proactive functioning of 24 ward war rooms and jumbo field hospitals, especially from 11 pm to 7 am,” Chahal said.

“Patients, who will arrive at the jumbo centres without a Covid report, will also be entitled to bed, and tests will be conducted for them at the centre itself,” read the circular.

Chahal has directed ward war rooms to allot beds to people awaiting test results and calling after 11 pm in the suspected category.

“Any patient calling the ward war room for bed between 11 pm and 7 am shall be referred to a particular jumbo field hospital and on arrival at a particular jumbo centre, the suitable bed will be allotted to the patient after assessing his/her medical condition. This shall ensure that all needy patients get beds quickly, even between 11 pm and 7 am, besides the regular daytime functioning,” the circular added.