KAKINADA : Utter chaos prevailed at Kakinada Government General Hospital on Thursday night as the GGH authorities found it extremely difficult to accommodate nearly 200 Covid-19 patients in the limited number of beds available. Despite the implementation of the patient discharge policy, the number of new infectees seeking hospital admission kept on increasing and by Thursday midnight the number touched 200. The ENT Block, which is a designated Covid Block, was jam packed with patients.
The GGH authorities adjusted the new admissions into wards of other departments as the entire GGH is a designated Covid hospital. However, doctors had to either adjust two people on a single bed in some wards or provide treatment to patients by making temporary arrangements on the hospital floor.
The GGH has a total of 1,211 beds, including 62 ICU and 794 oxygen beds. Of the total, 61 ICU beds and 791 oxygen beds were occupied. Only a few general beds are available for new cases. In East Godavari district as on Friday, 3,376 Covid patients are undergoing treatment in 55 notified hospitals. The doctors had a tough time making the patients, who do not need further hospitalisation, opt for home isolation or Covid Care Centre after getting discharged. Several patients were reluctant to get discharged till they were completely cured.
Ramesh, a relative of a Covid patient, said they waited for more than two hours for a bed in the hospital. “My mother has contracted coronavirus. She is having difficulty in breathing. I requested the doctors several times to allocate a bed to her but was only told to wait for some more time. Finally, they allocated an oxygen bed for her in the surgical block,” he said.
Kakinada GGHs Covid Nodal Officer Dr M Kiran said, “Almost all ICU and oxygen beds are filled with Covid patients. Several Covid patients are coming with respiratory problems, but the doctors are unable to provide them beds.”
Pressure mounts on available medical staff as several GGH doctors fall sick
Kakinada GGH Incharge Superintendent Dr Venkata Buddha said only a few beds are available in the hospital. The GGH medical team has been monitoring the health of patients and they are being discharged if further hospitalisation is not required to make beds available for new cases. He, however, admitted that with some duty doctors falling sick and some contracting the virus, the pressure is mounting on the available medical staff.
There are a total of 300 doctors, including 50 professors and 50 associate professors and 200 house surgeons and an equal number of PG students. All are working in three shifts per day. Though additional staff were recruited last year, some are yet to join duties. “We have appointed 60 general duty medical officers and some more paramedical staff. However, some 25 doctors and 10-15 paramedical staff are either hospitalised or in home isolation after testing positive for Covid,” Dr Venkata Buddha said.
Lokesh Alleges Government Negligence In Kakinada
TDP general secretary Nara Loksh has alleged that patients and their attendants were facing harrowing experiences at the Kakinada Government Hospital because of the Government’s negligence. The bodies of Covid victims were left on the verandahs, he said.