Pvt docs want to talk to Central team

Private healthcare sector should also be consulted to get a clear picture, say doctors

With the patient load increasing five-fold, the management of Covid-19 cases is a challenge, and the Telangana Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (THANA) wants the Central team led by Lav Agarwal, joint secretary at the Union ministry of health, to take an independent view on Telangana State.

The Association’s doctors told this newspaper that the team visits only government hospitals and is briefed only by government officials. Other healthcare sectors must be involved to understand the exact situation.

Dr C.R.K. Prasad, past president of THANA said, “The team must speak to senior doctors. We tried to meet them today but could not do so as their schedule was fixed. The ground situation demands that there must be a committee of experts including epidemiologists and public health specialists to guide the government. There is a huge gap between what is projected and the situation at ground level and that needs to be addressed aggressively.”

While the government has shown an intention to test, it stopped testing and then re-started it. This stopstart has caused much confusion among the people. Another complaint is that private hospitals are demanding a deposit before admission and patients are scared to complain as they have to first look for treatment. While home isolation and treatment are being advertised, the availability of equipment is a challenge for many.

Dr A.Y. Chary, former director of health and medical education, said, “We need to have a roadmap which requires decentralisation. By keeping Gandhi Hospital as a centre for severe diseases, the efforts are being negated. Why should people from the Old City or Gachibowli go to Gandhi Hospital for treatment? There are hospitals in these areas and they must offer treatment.”

He said the burden is only on physicians while surgical teams are not utilised, which means resource management is not optimum. “There is a need for more physicians and they must be hired on contract basis to tackle the problems. These steps will fill in the waiting time and that will make treatment easy and accessible.”

A senior doctor added: “We have lost precious time by not testing enough and not even creating adequate infrastructure. If the lockdown is imposed again, we urge the government to fill in these infrastructure gaps and carry out maximum testing.”