Hyderabad: Getting a hospital bed with oxygen or ventilator support has become a difficult task for patients and their families as the rise of new Covid infections and active cases continue in the districts of Hyderabad, Medchal-Malkajgiri and Rangareddy.
Just like Friday, Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS), Gachibowli, is the only tertiary state hospital left in the three districts that still has ventilator and oxygen beds for patients with moderate and severe Covid infections. However, given the increase in cases, the hospitals’ beds at TIMS are expected to fill up in the coming days. At Gandhi Hospital, all 619 ventilator beds are being filled while there are at least 300 more vacant oxygen beds.
Due to the struggle to gain access to hospital beds, critical patients in need of immediate ventilator care or oxygen supply travel long distances. As the pandemic is expected to progress further in the coming weeks, the public may have even more difficulty accessing beds with oxygen and ventilator support, senior doctors fear here.
Apart from providing health care services to Covid patients from these three districts, tertiary state hospitals such as Gandhi Hospital, TIMS and Chest Hospital, also offer treatment facilities to critical patients from other parts of the state. Over the past two weeks, there has been a steady influx of patients from other districts, referred by doctors from local community health centers (CHCs).
‘We are seeing a trend that doctors of CHCs in districts, instead of referring patients to the local AH or DH equipped with oxygen or ventilator support beds, are referring critical patients to Gandhi and TIMS. Imagine that a patient with critical care is transported in an ambulance in a vehicle to Gandhi or TIMS. A majority of them die while being transported. We have given strict instructions to our CHC doctors to first refer critical patients to local DH or AH, ”Health Minister Eatala Rajender pointed out.
There are already signs of distress as almost all the medium and super-special private hospitals with more than 100 beds in the three districts are working to their full capacity, with very few beds with oxygen and ICU / fan support left. A few private hospitals still have a very limited number of empty beds, but also they are quickly full or there is a waiting list for patients.
‘Instead of looking for admissions to health care facilities with more than 100 beds, it is better for patients and their families to look for smaller health care facilities, such as local private clinics and nursing homes for moderate patients who need oxygen support. “But for patients who need ICU or ventilator care, they need to succeed in finding a bed with super-special healthcare facilities, which is currently difficult,” the health officials said. Covid Care centers said.
Source: Telangana Today