No ICU in northwest Delhi’s only Covid govt hospital; critical care 30km away
nNEWDELHI: Despite being the only Covid-designated government hospital in entire northwest Delhi, Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital (SRHCH) in Narela does not have an intensive care unit (ICU) and ventilators.
The hospital caters to several neighbourhoods such as Narela, Bawana, Alipur and Rohini. The closest other Covid government hospital is Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital in Ashok Vihar – about 25 kilometres away.
“Our hospital doesn’t have the central gas pipeline essential to provide ventilator support to patients. So, we only take in patients who have mild to moderate symptoms,” said Dr Sanjay Kumar Jain, the medical superintendent of the hospital.
If a patient turns critical, he or she is rushed in an ambulance to either Lok Nayak Hospital or GTB Hospital – which are located 35 and 36 kilometres away respectively. “On an average, three such patients are sent to these two hospitals every day from here,” says Jai Kishan, an official at the helpdesk at SRHCH.
Kishan said his job mostly revolves around connecting relatives to their patients. Patients admitted here are not only those referred from the nearby neighbourhoods, but also from as far as central Delhi localities, said Kishan.
“The other day, I received a call from a woman from south
Delhi’s Saket whose mother-inlaw is admitted here. Her husband is away at work in another state and she didn’t know how to make it this far to hand over food and clothing to her mother-inlaw. I have been ensuring she gets regular health updates about the patient,” Kishan said.
There are a host of private Covid-designated hospitals around, but local residents say that they are out of bounds given the economic background of the people in the neighbourhoods.
“You think the workers of the Narela or Bawana industrial areas can afford a private hospital?” asks Raghav Lal, a footwear factory manager whose elderly uncle is admitted here. “Barring the timing of meals, there is little to complain about the services of this hospital, but that is because this hospital is practically just an isolation centre with the availability of doctors,” Lal says.
Besides ICU and ventilators, the hospital also doesn’t have a Covid testing centre.
The hospital, which was designated a Covid facility on June 2, has only 200 beds, but 194 of them are on offer for Covid patients.
Of all Delhi government Coviddesignated hospitals, this hospital has the highest rate of occupancy. On Sunday morning, the Delhi Corona app showed, it had an occupancy of 52%. Nearby Deep Chand Bandhu hospital had the second highest occupancy rate at 51%.
A Delhi government spokesperson acknowledged the problem of lack of ICU and ventilators, but said that it was being managed with the help of a strong ambulance service. “We do not delay even for a moment if a patient’s health deteriorates here. The ambulances are able to transfer the patients to either Lok Nayak or GTB Hospital within an hour,” said the spokesperson.
The spokesperson said efforts are on to deal with the problems. “There are private hospitals in which ICU beds are reserved for patients. For those who cannot afford these hospitals, we’ll ready another government hospital in north-west Delhi and are working to get an ICU ready there,” said the spokesperson.
The hospital superintendent confirmed the central gas pipeline work was in progress. “This process takes time, but it will be ready soon, before there is a great surge in cases,” said Dr Jain.
Shravan Kumar, who works as a welder, said his wife was admitted to the hospital five days ago. He said since relatives are not allowed inside, he visited the hospital for the first time on Friday. Shravan, who lives in west Delhi’s Mayapuri, more than 30km from the hospital, said he did not have the means to commute so far. “Today, I requested my neighbour to bring me here in his auto-rickshaw,” said Shravan while handing over some dry food items to the security guard on the hospital’s main gate.
Shankar Kumar, a tempo driver, had come from Subhash Nagar to visit the hospital for the first time in a week after his wife was hospitalised here.
Both seemed content with the treatment but said their only worry was if the condition of their patients turn critical they would be referred to some other hospital. “I am worried what to do if such a situation arises,” said Shravan.
Shankar nodded in agreement.