As per Delhi government's order, 60 per cent of the total ward capacity in 101 private hospitals has to be reserved for Covid-19 treatment. (File/Representational Image) Days after the Delhi government ordered 14 top private hospitals in the city to be converted into a fully Covid facility, the Association of Healthcare Providers in India (AHPI) has urged Health Minister Satyendar Jain to continue with the treatment of non-Covid patients in private hospitals.
In a letter to the minister, the association said the directive was issued without any prior discussions with the private hospitals and also no effort was made to assess the current demand-supply situation of critical care beds in private hospitals in the city.
“The order does not consider the plight of non-Covid patients and those who are already admitted in the hospitals. Further, the hospitals which have been declared as fully Covid hospitals are the ones which offer the best medical services in the country,” wrote Dr Girdhar Gyani, director of AHPI in the letter to Jain.
An order issued by the Delhi government on April 12 stated that top hospitals including Indraprastha Apollo, Sir Ganga Ram, Holy Family, Max Hospital Shalimar Bagh, Fortis Hospital Shalimar Bagh and Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital will have to reserve 100% beds for the Covid-19 patients.
“The order does not even mention what will happen to those patients who need urgent attention such as patients having heart attacks, needing urgent care due to kidney transplant, cancer patients, accidental injuries, complex fractures and even other conditions like cancer, transplant and cardiac emergencies, acute pulmonary disorders. Reservation of ICU beds means the patients of above said categories will be left with no place to get their treatment since it requires urgent attention,” Gyani said.
The association had earlier approached Delhi High Court regarding a similar order issued by the Delhi government on the reservation of the beds for Covid-19 patients. In February, the high court had disposed of a writ petition on the issue after the government de-escalated the reservation of ICU beds to 25 per cent of the total bed capacity, the AHPI said, adding that the court directed the association to approach the government in the form of a representation considering the ever-changing scenario of the Covid-19 pandemic
Apart from this, 60 per cent of the total ward capacity in 101 private hospitals has to be reserved for Covid-19 treatment. The hospitals are now working on the transition process.
Dr K K Trehan, Medical Director, Max super speciality hospital, Shalimar bagh said “We are exploring ways to implement the Delhi government orders at the earliest, meanwhile keeping in mind that it causes minimum inconvenience to our existing non-Covid patients. We are hopeful that minor operational issues would get ironed out soon.”
“Fortis Hospital Shalimar Bagh has been declared a fully dedicated Covid hospital. We are awaiting guidelines on how to continue essential non-Covid services, handle emergency patients as well as how best to continue the treatment of patients already being treated for life threatening diseases such as cancer, end stage renal failure and others,” the hospital said in a statement.
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