Chahal orders inspection of all civic hospitals

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal on Monday directed civic officials to inspect all hospitals under the jurisdiction of the civic body. Chahal has been on a mission to streamline the city's health infrastructure and Covid-related issues since the time he took over as the BMC chief in May this year. Following discrepancies in the number of cases and sudden spike in the number of fatalities due to Covid 19 earlier this month af ter a reconciliation exercise, Chahal has issued warnings to private hospitals to report death cases within 48 hours af ter a death occurs.

The civic body is on the verge of getting helpline 1916 out from the Covid-19 system af ter many complained of the helpline being of no help. The BMC has instead started war rooms onward levels to address issues. "The question of 1916 not operational and shortage of beds and people roaming in multiple hospitals looking for beds has become redundant in Mumbai. We have formed a strategy called "Chase the patient", under which proper protocols are followed, which ensures, no patients will be lef t out and will get a bed if he/she needs one. Our online dashboards and ward level war rooms are operational 24x7. Once a person calls us for help, complains of Covid like symptoms, our ward level teams reach them in 20 to 30 minutes. They are checked for symptoms, oxygen levels and other symptoms. If they the person has strong Covid-like symptoms we allot them a bed either in the nearby institutional isolation centres or a hospital. The team does not leave until a bed is allotted," Chahal said.