No Admission Without Covid-19 Reports: Delhi Hospital

As the number of Covid-19 cases witness a huge surge on a daily basis, it has become more and more difficult for patients to get a bed in hospitals. A new challenge has emerged, hospitals are not admitting patients without a COVID test report.

Misery Mounts For Covid Patients

43-year-old Aslam Khan had brought his severely ill wife Ruby Khan to the biggest Covid-19 facility hospital of Delhi, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital. However, even after seeing the critical condition of his wife, the hospital authorities did not let him enter through the gates. Earlier, Aslam had been turned back by three other hospitals as they couldn't produce a lab report confirming that Ruby had Covid-19. Even though a chest scan of hers clearly showed traces of Covid, the hospital authorities strictly asked for laboratory test certificates. "But look at this chest scan I just got done from the trauma centre. It shows lung infection, and doctors said she has Covid. But here in LNJP, too, they are saying take her somewhere else. She will die on the way," Mr Khan told NDTV. After a huge struggle for almost one hour Aslam somehow managed to get a bed in the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital.

But there still remain several other people who face the same struggle as Aslam did and failed to get treated. Experts have said that due to the new variant of the virus, the lab reports often show COVID negative even though traces of the virus can easily be seen in blood tests, chest X-rays and even CT scans. But the hospital authorities refused to admit patients despite the severity of the patients.

For instance, in the case of Vinod Kumar and Rahul Verma, Vinod had brought his 60-year-old mother to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital after being rejected by three other hospitals. "Her oxygen levels have been dipping. I finally came to LNJP and waited here for two-and-a-half hours, after which they took her inside," said Vinod. Rahul Verma, who works for an NGO, recently lost his uncle after running from hospital to hospital for admission. "The ambulance dropped him outside the hospital, and he was there for six hours without Oxygen. He ultimately got a bed, but we lost him within a few hours," said Rahul.

The Logical Indian appeals to the Central Government, the Health Ministry, to announce the terms with which Hospitals can and cannot admit patients, particularly when the severity of cases is very high. It will be very useful if the Central and State Governments can leverage technology to give a real-time update of counts of beds available in each hospital, the facilities, the terms etc. that people could refer to before making the decision to go to a particular hospital will save them from considerable miseries.

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