Covid-19 duties take a toll on docs in district hospitals

The high workload and no rest took the life of a 35year-old deputy medical and health officer in Bhadari Kothagudem district Dr G. Naresh Kumar.

The lack of doctors in public health centres, district and area hospitals has hit services hard during the pandemic as there are no rotation duties for those working and they have to do Covid-19, nonCovid-19 and also administration work.

Doctors state that they have to work even on Sundays due to the emergency and there is no reprieve for them. Workload has increased four times and there are no extra hands to allow for rotational duties as was followed in Hyderabad.

A senior government doctor said, “We are doing out-patient duty, screening patients for

Covid-19, non-Covid-19 cases are also high due to seasonal changes and there is a lot of administrative work that has to be completed. Even if we are exposed, the decision to isolate is not possible as there is so much work and there are no replacements.” This adds to the viral load in the body, often not recognised on time even by doctors.

Doctors state that there are enough personal protection kits provided by the government but to wear it for eight hours is exhausting. They get dehydrated in these kits as they cannot go to bathroom, so their water intake is limited. Weather conditions are hot and humid, making it difficult for them to work in these kits.

Due to this reason, all of them have been asking patients to maintain social distance but that is difficult for many to follow. The concept of social distancing is not understood properly and it is one of the prime reasons for the faster spread of the virus.

The death of Dr G. Naresh Kumar has caused a lot of anger among government and private doctors across districts. They state that there must be steps in place for doctors to protect themselves.

Dr V. Rakesh, president of Warangal Telangana Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association, said, “There is a need to divide the Covid-19 and nonCovid-19 duties. There is already a shortage of paramedical staff due to the spread of the infection. In these times, doctors are overburdened and these unfortunate incidents create more fear. There is a need to boost the morale of the medical fraternity by providing more doctors and specialists to deal with these cases.”

The lack of specialists is one of the prime reasons for many government hospitals to send serious patients to Hyderabad for treatment.

Government doctors have been told that the recruitment process of those on contract will be completed in the next two days and there will be more hands available.

It remains to be seen of how many will join and work in the rural areas during these challenging times.