“Please do not admit your patient to the hospital. If you can manage, keep them at homes. There is no one to take care of your patient,” said PK Sharma, a doctor at a private hospital which has been notified as a Covid facility on the outskirts of Lucknow.
The doctor, who retired from the government service and has been working at a private hospital as a consultant physician, himself tested positive and is under home isolation. “There is no one to take care of your patient. Majority of the doctors and paramedics are down with Corona infection. The ward boy will come once a day and to enquire about your patients’ health. That is the only service a hospital can provide,” he explained.
Dr Sharma revealed the stark reality of Covid hospitals in Uttar Pradesh. As per a rough estimate, 1123 doctors and paramedics have tested Corona positive in the last 21 days. The prestigious King George’s Medical University and Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow too were not untouched by this and around 300 para-medics of these institutes have tested positive.
“There is a scarcity of trained staff in Covid wards, but we are holding the fort. So far, so good,” said UP Health Minister JP Singh.
Senior journalist Himashu Joshi was admitted to a private hospital after testing Corona positive. Two days after his admission, Joshi called up his colleagues to complain that no one had come to enquire about his health. “My oxygen level is going down. But there is no one to complain to,” he told his colleague. The colleague dialled some contacts requesting them to take care of Joshi which failed to yield the desired result and Joshi passed away the next day.
The situation is more or less the same same in other hospitals on Lucknow.
Narendra Nath Saxena’s daughter and son-in-law were admitted to a private hospital where the daughter complained that there was no one to guide them about the treatment. “The hospital is charging Rs 15,000 per room. Atleast, there should be a doctor to take care of the patient,” Saxena said.
Doctors admit that the situation was bad but they could not help because of shortage of staff. The situation is so grim that in Ghatampur (Kanpur Dehat), a ward boy was asked to operate ventilators in the absence of para-medics and electricians.
President of UP Provincial Health and Medical Services (PHMS) Dr Sachin Vaish said that over 200 government doctors have been taken ill in the last three weeks across the state. “At least 25 doctors in Lucknow, including the Health were Covid positive,” he said.
Dr Vaish further said that there was immense pressure on the doctors as they are working overtime, in some cases upto 10-12 hours against the prescribed six hours. “If there is a flow of patients you cannot leave them there. Some doctors are working extra hours to arrange oxygen for patients,” he said.
In Etawah, Dr Abdul Qadir said that besides him, a sweeper and a ward boy have been working for over 20 hours a day. “We have no option as there is an acute shortage of staff and a continuous flow of patients,” he said.
The PHMS association has written to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath saying that since large numbers of doctors have fallen sick, a special ward for doctors and their family members be set up in each district.
It takes a minimum 14 days for a person to recover from the Covid which implies that if a doctor tests Corona positive, he would be out of operation for two weeks thereby affecting working in hospitals.