Once a patient is admitted to a hospital in the intensive care unit (ICU) with COVID complications, the relatives can only pray for his or her recovery, as there is no information flowing out of the wards and the relatives outside spend tense moments.
This has been the concern of many, who have admitted someone close to their to a hospital.
Speaking to The Hindu, a senior citizen, who recently lost his wife, said, “With great difficulty and pulling a lot of strings, I could admit my wife into a corporate hospital. She was there for about four to five days, and I did not receive any communication on how she was doing. The only communication that I received was on the fifth day, when they told me that she had died. I did not even know, whether the food that I would send was fed to her or not.”
Same is the case with an employee from the oil sector. “I had bought four Remdesivir injections for my father who was admitted to a private hospital, for ₹35,000 each vial, as the hospital said that it did not have the injections in stock, despite being a COVID notified hospital. It was not communicated to me whether the injections were administered or not and neither it was mentioned in the bills,” he said.
Out for fear, many are afraid to take up the matter with the district authorities, but they say that the authorities concerned should ask every hospital to set up an information counter, so that the family members can know about the condition of the patient.
“We cannot go into the ward, as it is restricted area and neither can the patients come out, which is not advisable, but at least there must be some flow of information,” said Srinivasa Rao, a software professional, who faced a similar issue.
Many feel that some of the private hospitals, are fleecing the patients without even administering the injections such as Remdesivir or Tocilizumab or Bevacizumab, for which exorbitant rates are being charged.
“The patient is unaware what medicine is being administered and we who are present outside can only believe the hospital version, as in most cases, the medication is not mentioned in the curtailed bills. The bill that are given to us are only as per the government norms, but what is charged from us is completely different,” said Mr. Srinivasa Rao.
The government hospitals are transparent, but it is difficult to get a bed in the government hospitals, as there are a few only.
“Some of the private hospitals are also doing business transparently, but not all of them and we have been receiving complaints and we are looking into it,” said an official from the Department of Health.