Sandeep Rana
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 1

You will find it shocking, but it’s true that several non-Covid persons and positive patients are staying, eating and sleeping together in none other than UT Administration-run Government Multi-Speciality Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16. They have not been provided with PPE kits and a mask is their only safety.

Staying with father in ward since April 17

A resident of Sector 33, who is staying in the ward as attendant for his father, said: “My father tested positive on April 17 and three-four days later, he got admitted to the GMSH. I have been with him in the Covid ward since then. I sleep near the bed of my father. The others are also doing the same.”

In the absence of hospital attendants, many positive patients are putting up with one of their family members as attendant in the Covid ward of the GMSH-16, increasing the risk of transmission and putting a question mark over the functioning of the authorities.

‘Not possible to have attendants for all’

Dr Amandeep Kaur Kang, Director, Health Services, UT, said: “We already have 225 positive patients. Of them, 75 are critical. It is not possible to have attendants for each patient due to the caseload. The situation will improve as we are hiring more doctors and nurses.”

At night, these attendants even sleep on the floor beside the patient’s bed. A few of them were seen without mask in the company of corona patients.

Some family members who do not want to stay in the ward with their patients are being approached by private attendants offering their services on a daily payment basis. A resident of Sector 33, who is staying in the ward as attendant for his father, told Chandigarh Tribune: “My father tested positive on April 17 and three-four days later, he got admitted to the GMSH. I have been with him in the Covid ward since then. I sleep near the bed of my father. The others are also doing the same.” The daughter of another patient said: “My father had remained in the GMSH for three-four days and now he has been discharged. We had a private room but there were attendants available for hire.”

A government servant, who also stayed in the Covid ward to take care of his mother in April, said: “I was shocked to see non-Covid persons eating and sleeping in the ward as there were no hospital attendants to take care of the patients. I myself slept on the floor at night adjoining to my mom’s bed. What was alarming that these attendants (patients’ kin) used to roam outside during the day and return to the ward later.”

“Nurses/hospital staff gave us medicines and food outside the ward. The hospital must have their own staff,” he added.

Meanwhile, the GMSH authorities said they were facing a shortage of staff and were already overstretched due to a large number of admission of corona patients.

Dr Devinder, in charge of Covid Management, GMSH, claimed: “We are not forcing people to stay as attendants. Some insist they must take care of their family members. We only ask them to send one attendant in case the patient is very old. When the old patients have to go to washroom, they have to be carried in a wheelchair with oxygen. Along with our one staff member, one family member is also required.”

Showing helplessness, Dr Amandeep Kaur Kang, Director, Health Services, UT, said: “We already have 225 positive patients. Of them, 75 are critical. It is not possible to have attendants for each patient due to the caseload. The situation will improve as we are hiring more doctors and nurses.”

“The attendants cannot wear PPE kits for more than half an hour due to sweating. However, we provide them masks, gloves and caps,” added Dr Devinder. However, many attendants in the ward were seen without masks, gloves and caps.