Indore
While COVID-19 is playing havoc, shortage of oxygen and drugs has forced many major hospitals in the city to deny new admissions until the situation improves, leaving patients in the lurch.
“All beds are already occupied. But even if some get vacated we are not accepting fresh admissions due to huge crisis of oxygen, Remdesivir injections, Fabiful and related drugs used in the treatment of COVID-19 patients,” said the administrative officer of a leading hospital in the city wishing anonymity.
He said that they have not taken any new admissions in the last three days.
The administrative officer of another hospital said admitting new patients in the hospital without the necessary drugs to treat them would prove useless. “Most of the patients reach hospital these days in need of oxygen and Remdesivir injections. The status of oxygen and Remdesivir injections in city hospitals is well known; they don't have enough stock. In fact, our stock could meet the needs of merely 25 per cent of total COVID-19 patients in our hospital,” he said.
The situation is so grim that COVID-19 patients shuttle from one hospital to another seeking admission but hardly any hospital accommodates them. The worst-hit are those who require ICU. There is long waiting for ICU at each and every hospital and many patients die before their turn for admission comes.
“All-day long our phones keep ringing requesting admission for COVID-19 patients. Some give reference of ministers and senior political leaders but what can we do if there are no empty beds,” a senior doctor at a private hospital in Vijay Nagar said.
Patients not ready to leave HDU rooms
A senior doctor stated that patients who were taken to High Dependency Units (HDUs), also called step-down, progressive and intermediate care units, are reluctant to leave the room even when they are declared out of danger.
“Patients insist that they should be allowed to continue in HDU room for one to two more days even when they are out of danger. They don’t listen to us and start throwing tantrums when we request them to vacate the bed for other patients in need,” he said.
A private hospital administrator said that these types of cases are also stretching the waiting list. He said that the help of the district administration would be taken to evict patients who have been cured but are unwilling to leave the HDU.
