Overworked doctors, patients sharing beds: Health Minister, please get more serious about dengue

The spurt in dengue cases in the national capital has exposed the lack of preparedness of the government. Not only is there a paucity of beds in almost all government hospitals, but there is also an acute shortage of platelets in most blood banks. Firstpost visited several hospitals and found that the reality on the ground is not in consonance with the claims of Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain.

Following the death of a seven-year-old child from dengue after he was denied admission to several hospitals last week, Jain had paid surprise visits to few hospitals on Sunday to take a stock of the situation. He appeared to be satisfied with the hospitals’ dengue preparedness.

“The condition of hospitals, as I have examined, is not that bad. Whosoever is coming is being admitted. Some necessary instructions have been given to authorities to make appropriate arrangements to tackle dengue cases. Our preparedness is much better than last year,” he told reporters.

But our findings suggest that this is not exactly the case.

Swami Dayanand Hospital

With hundreds of patients arriving everyday, the situation is chaotic here. There are not enough beds. At least 13 patients under treatment were lying on the floor. Desperate to accommodate dengue patients the authorities have turned surgical wards into dengue wards.

“We have treated around 150 suspected dengue patients in the last one month. So far, 50 patients have been found positive,” said Medical Superintendent Dr ML Jaipal.

When asked about the patients lying on the floor, he said, “The issue of the shortage of beds has now been resolved. With the notification of the Delhi government, we have delayed the routine surgery and have started using surgical wards to treat dengue patients. Our first priority is to give proper treatment to the patients as most of them are from lower economic backgrounds and cannot afford treatment at private nursing homes or hospitals.”

Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital

The situation here is more or less similar. There’s overcrowding and the doctors and medical staff are overworked. Patients have no option but to share beds. We found single beds being shared by two patients.

At least 55 to 60 suspected dengue patients are being admitted here almost everyday. “We are running short of doctors, nursing staff and necessary medicine,” said a member of medical staff.

Apart from beds, there is an acute shortage of platelets — a component of blood essential for the treatment of dengue — in most blood banks in the city. “With the rise in dengue cases, the demand for platelets has gone up. We don’t have enough stock. As a result, people are forced to look for donors or offer blood replacement to the banks in exchange for the platelets,” he added.

Generally, laboratories process the blood only when it is required because platelets have a maximum shelf life of five days. But what is happening now is labs are processing blood as and when it is collected to reduce the wait period. Platelets have to be processed within six hours of drawing blood.

Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital

The hospital is registering between 70 and 80 patients per day with symptoms of the mosquito-borne disease. Till now, 25 people have been tested positive for dengue. At least 50 percent of the patients undergoing treatment here have been referred from other hospitals because they are not well-equipped to treat people suffering from dengue.

Each bed in the designated dengue ward has to accommodate three or four patients. The rest are lying in corridors. The children’s ward of the hospital also has a huge rush, with two or three suffering from different ailments sharing the same bed. The hospital has created a separate ward with more than 75 beds but even this arrangement is proving insufficient.

“At present, we have 72 patients, out of whom 17 are in a serious condition because of delayed diagnosis and late admission,” said a senior doctor who was busy attending to patients. He feels “non-reliable and false diagnostic test results” for detention of dengue has created panic and therefore, people are coming in large numbers. “Dengue is like any other fever and there is nothing to worry about,” he said.

He also complained about the shortage of doctors and nursing staff.

Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital

The emergency and OPD are flooded with patients complaining of fever. “Of the 1000-odd people arriving at the hospital daily, at least 20 are tested dengue positive. Like other hospitals, our wards are also full and we have already put extra beds,” said Medical Superintendent Dr Savita Babbar.

She admitted that because of dearth of beds, patients in her hospital are sharing the available ones.

Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital

On average, the hospital is getting 100 to 200 suspected dengue cases per day. The total number of beds dedicated to dengue patients is 80 but admission is much higher. “We started with 35 beds for dengue patients. With the surge in the number of cases, it was increased to 70. But this is not adequate. We are accommodating the rest in the emergency wards,” said Medical Superintendent Dr AK Gadpayle.

A doctor in the emergency ward said they are overburdened because of the shortage of doctors. “We have a total of four to five doctors. Sometimes it becomes difficult to manage such a huge patient footfall,” he said.

Overall, the situation here was much better than the above mentioned hospitals.

When Firstpost confronted the minister with its findings, Jain said: “We are not denying that there are two patients on one bed. This is happening because hospital authorities are not refusing admission to anyone.” He added that the “preparations were even better than previous year but sudden outbreak of the disease led to the chaotic situation”.

But he hoped that everything would be brought under control soon.

“I have directed the health secretary and other officials concerned to buy 1,000 new beds to accommodate dengue patients in hospitals within next three or four days. If hospitals lack space, the new beds can be kept in lobbies or wherever space is available,” he added.

Asked about the number of hospitals providing dengue treatment, he replied, “Presently, out of the total 39 hospitals run by the Delhi government, 34 hospitals offer diagnosis and treatment facilities for dengue patients.”