Amid severe crisis in UP hospitals treating Covid patients, a doctor from a private Covid hospital in Lucknow has asked people not to take their patients to hospitals because there is no one to take care of patients as most of the doctors and paramidics have themselves contracted Covid.
“Please do not admit your patient to the hospital. If you can manage, keep him at home. There is no one to take care of your patient,” said Dr PK Sharma of a private hospital designated as a Covid
hospital on the outskirts of Lucknow.
The doctor, who retired from the Government service and is working in a private hospital as a consultant physician, has himself tested positive and is in home isolation. “There is no one to take care of your patient. The majority of the doctors and paramedics are down with corona. The ward boy will come once a day and enquire about your patients’ health. That is the only service a hospital can provide,” he said.
Dr Sharma revealed the stark reality of the hospitals in Uttar Pradesh. According to a rough estimate, 1,123 doctors and paramedics have tested corona positive in the last 21 days. Even the prestigious King George’s Medical University and Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow are not spared.
Around 300 paramedics of these two institutes have tested positive.
“There is a scarcity of trained staff in the Covid wards, but we are holding the fort. So far, so good,” said the Health Minister J P Singh.
Himashu Joshi, a senior journalist was admitted to a private hospital after he tested positive. After two days he called up his colleague to say that no one has come to enquire about his health. “My oxygen level is going down. But there is no one to whom I could complain,” he told his colleague.
He died the next day.
The situation is the same in other hospitals.
Narendra Nath Saxena’s daughter and son-in-law were admitted in a private hospital. Her daughter complained that no one is there to guide them about the treatment. “The hospital is charging Rs 15,000 per room. At least, there should be a doctor to take care of the patient,” Saxena said.
The doctors admit that the situation is bad but they cannot help it because of shortage of staff. The situation is so bad that in Ghatampur a ward boy was asked to operate ventilators in the absence of para-medics and electricians.
President of the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Health and Medical Services (PHMS), Dr Sachin Vaish said that over 200 Government doctors have fallen sick in the last three weeks across the State. “At least 25 doctors in the state headquarters including the DG Health were tested positive,” he said.
He said there is immense pressure on the doctors as they are working overtime. In some cases, they are working 10-12 hours against the prescribed 6 hours duty. “If there is a flow of patients you cannot leave them there. Some doctors are working extra hours to arrange oxygen for the patients,” Dr Vaish said.
In Etawah, Dr. Abdul Qadir said that besides him, a sweeper and a ward boy are working for over 20 hours. “We have no option. There is an acute shortage of staff and there is a continuous flow of patients,” he said.
The PHMS the association has written a letter to the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath saying that “as large numbers of doctors have fallen sick a special ward for the doctors and their family members should be set up in each district.”
It takes a minimum 14 days for a person to recover from the Covid. This means that doctors once tested positive, are out of operation for two weeks. This ultimately affects the working in hospitals.
