As the highly transmissible Covid variant Omicron surges through the cities, various State Governments have started mulling to cancel or postpone elective surgeries as well as considering closing down OPDs services as a desperate measure to divert the health system operating for rising Covid-19 hospitalisations amid staff shortages.
However, this has not gone down well with the health activists and medical professionals who feel that the move will leave non-covid patients, particularly those having serious health issues or chronic ailments such as cancer, a harassed lot as they would be deprived of timely treatment.
Referring to the recent decision of Delhi's AIIMS administration to convert the AIIMS Trauma Centre also known as Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre into a Covid Care facility, a senior government doctor said that the Government has had 2 years to fix the health infrastructure. “Elective” means surgery isn’t needed within 24 hours. Many are suffering and many will die, he said.
Taking the lead, the Delhi’s AIIMS Resident Doctors Association (RDA) has already written to their director not to convert the AIIMS Trauma Center also known as Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center into a Covid Care facility, saying trauma services should not be ignored as most of the trauma victims are of young age who are the sole breadwinners of their families.
In March last year, JPNAT was converted into a full-fledged Covid-19 center and normal trauma services were recently restored there, the global road safety body said in a statement.
Similarly, the International Road Federation (IRF) president emeritus KK Kapila has written to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya urging him to step in and not to allow reconversion of JPNAT into the Covid-19 center.
Kapila pointed out that it has been the only center in the country providing 24x7 quality patient care with all specialities catering to injured patients. “The center also catered to complicated trauma victims referred from other hospitals, patients from central armed police forces injured in action, patients of mass and multiple casualty incidents.
The AIIMS RDA said that instead of disrupting services in the Trauma centre, the Government could have utilized its three nearby newly functional buildings that have 710 beds and most of them are unused.
Another doctor from another Government hospital who refused to be quoted said that because of the disruption of services many patients like those suffering from diabetes or neuro patients die at home waiting for treatment for their chronic conditions.
Some diseases like cancer can’t wait.