State to conduct audit of all Cov deaths in 2nd wave

Ranchi: The Jharkhand government will audit all the documented coronavirus-related deaths across the state’s five prominent Covid-19 hospitals during the second wave to ascertain the possible clinical and administrative laxities.
In an order issued on Tuesday evening, state health secretary Arun Kumar Singh constituted two teams, comprising doctors, to audit the deaths which were reported at Ranchi's Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, the SAIL run Bokaro General Hospital, Jamshedpur's Tata Main Hospital, Hazaribag's Sheikh Bhikhari Medical College and the Shahid Nirmal Mahto Medical College in Dhanbad. The audit will be completed by May 31.
“The death audit will involve speaking with the kin of the deceased and the hospital administration to ascertain the complications along with Covid-19, which resulted in the fatalities,” deputy director Dr. SN Jha said.
As per health department's data, as many as 3,738 people have died of Covid in the state between April 1 and May 25. Of them, 24 died in home isolation. “The need for the audit was felt as the mortality rate during the second wave is higher (1.46%) than the first wave (0.9%),” the order read.
The auditors will speak with the relatives of the deceased patient to enquire about possible delays in hospitalization, unavailability of beds and oxygen which may have resulted in the deaths.
“The hospital administration, on the other hand, will be quizzed to enquire the possibilities such as the unavailability of drugs, of equipment and manpower and mistreatment which resulted in the deaths,” a doctor, who is a part of the auditing team, said on anonymity.
Jha said the interview will be conducted in a set parameter and its findings will be used to bolster management in case of a third wave in the hospitals.
As per the department, there were over 12,000 non oxygen-supported Covid beds and 10,440 oxygen equipped beds in the state as on Tuesday. The state had 3,143 Covid ICU beds and 923 ventilators.
Meanwhile, with cases declining, the department on Tuesday also directed the hospitals to reduce dedicated Covid 19 beds to 50% of their respective total capacities from 70%.