As the coronavirus cases are witnessing a big spike in the national capital, the Delhi government has ordered 10-49- bed hospitals and nursing homes to get converted into a Covid-19 treatment facility.
The decision came after an order that said that 50- bed hospitals would have to keep 20 per cent of their beds reserved for corona patients.
After the new order of the Delhi government, those hospitals and nursing homes with 10-49 beds will be completely converted into Covid-19 facility, i.e. corona treatment centre. According to the government order, medical centres, specifically treating eye, ear and throat, having dialysis centres, delivery homes and IVF centres, have been exempted from this.
After this order, an atmosphere of fear has arisen in most nursing homes in the capital. The owners, who run the nursing homes, are all in the age group of 65 to 75 years. Dr. Ajit Gaba, Medical Director of Akash Hospital, Dr. Rajeev Khandelwal, Medical Director of Vardaan Hospital and Dr. Mrs. Mukul Jain, Medical Director of CHIKITSA Hospital—all of them are older people. In such a situation, they all are afraid of what will happen to them after this order, as most of the nursing homes have only one way of entry and exit.
Dr Mrs Mukul Jain, Medical Director of CHIKITSA Hospital, told The Daily Guardian: “On one hand, instructions are to admit only serious positive cases, mild/ non symptomatic is to be home quarantined. Small Nursing Homes do not have ICU, ventilator, ICU staff, 24- hour Oxygen & lab backup which are required to care for serious Covid patients. What kind of support is the government expecting from us?”
Medical Director of Aakash Hospital, Dr Ajit Gaba told The Daily Guardian that the government order of making all small nursing homes—which are around 575 all over Delhi—as Covid-19 treatment hospitals is going to harm the common patients very much. It will not benefit Covid patients as well, they say. Among the many problems which are bothering these small nursing homes are:
1) All these small nursing homes are located inside residential areas and colonies and they might become epicentres of corona spread in the community. This move is being opposed by the RWAs.
2) Most doctors are having their residences in the same premises in these small nursing homes, and will put families of these doctors including children and senior citizens at great risk of coronavirus infection.
3) Large number of nonCovid patients, i.e. pregnant women, diabetes, hypertension, COPD, surgical, orthopaedic patients and many other non-Covid patients who have been getting treatment at all these medical establishments will be left with no economical, doorstep health facilities.
Meanwhile Dr Girish Tyagi, president of the Delhi Medical Association, told The Daily Guardian: “After this order of the Delhi government, many doctors had called me and told about their problem. The owners of most nursing homes are senior citizens. They will demand from the government to withdraw this order.”
However, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that with this decision of the Delhi government, more than 5,000 beds will be available for Covid-19 patients. In the next few days, government officials will talk to the owner of every nursing home and overcome their problems.
Questioning the Delhi government decision, Congress state president Anil Chaudhary told The Daily Guardian: “In Ambedkar Nagar 600 Bedded Hospital is ready, Burari Hospital 768 Bedded is ready, and Indira Gandhi Hospital Sector 9 is ready in Dwarka. A total of 2,609 beds are ready. When will the government use them? It would have been better if the government had prepared before the Kejriwal Tughlaqi decree came out. Kejriwal is resorting to nursing homes to hide his failure.”
Meanwhile, BJP MP Ramesh Bidhudi said, “During this pandemic, nursing homes should also come forward to help the people. But the Delhi government should make Covid-19 test labs in all these nursing homes out of government expenses.”
