The state Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta has recently given a strict warning that if government, municipal, private hospitals deny to provide treatment for patients or make delay in admission or not give ambulance in time they have to face stringent consequences.
He directed hospitals not to turn away patients. The complaints are coming in large number against several private hospitals and clinics as they are refusing to see people, Mehta made it clear. In an order, Mehta said, “In exercise of said power conferred upon me under rule 10 (7) that Deans of General Hospitals, Chief Medical Superintendents, Medical Superintendents of peripheral hospitals, hospital in-charge of private hospitals to adhere to the directives scrupulously, failing which action under section 2, 3 and 4 of the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 would be initiated.” The order further makes it clear, ‘Any patient entering into hospital premises for any treatment of Covid or non-Covid ailment should be immediately checked into casualty or screening clinic and after triage patient may be shifted or admitted. Depending upon the site condition the staging area may be created for screening clinic and after triage of the patient in isolation so that infections are not transmitted.
Chief Secretary asked all the Directors of the Health Services to prepare the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for screening, transferring, admitting and discharging of patient. Each patient requiring hospital admission will be assigned and unique ID by the round-the-clock onsite team of the Disaster Management Department (DMD).’ In order to decongest hospitals, all asymptomatic positive patients without comorbidity should be shifted to appropriate Covid Care Centres (CCC) immediately and Covid and non Covid hospitals should ensure that no admissions are granted to asymptomatic positive patients without comorbidity. Similar patients in private hospitals should be stamped and sent away for home quarantine after proper counselling.
Hospitals should collect swabs of all the suspected Covid patients admitted on top priority and ensure that reports are collected within 12 hours and ensure that patients are triaged as per the clinical conditions and shifted to CCC, Dedicated Covid Health Centre (DCHC) or Dedicated Covid Hospitals (DCH).In case of death of Covid positive patient hospital administration should ensure that the dead body is shifted from ward within 30 minutes disposal of the same should be done within 12 hours.
