Inadequate support making it hard for new Covid facilities

New hospitals added to the Covid facility list are yet to get the required additional PPE kits, Remdesivir injections, increased oxygen supply and adequate staff support

LUCKNOW: Private hospitals added to the list of Covid facilities in the state capital have given immediate relief to many patients waiting for admission since long. However, majority of the hospitals were unprepared and are therefore struggling for essentials, particularly oxygen.

“We were informed on Friday night and within a few hours we were asked to admit patients too. With little stock of oxygen, we admitted patients but the medical gas and other required items are not as per requirement,” said a doctor, requesting anonymity, who runs one such private hospital and has admitted six patients on ventilator.

The new hospitals added to the Covid facility list are yet to get the required additional PPE kits, Remdesivir injections, increased oxygen supply and adequate staff support. Roughly 250 patients got immediate relief as 16 private hospitals were notified but the rising Covid cases again made the waiting list long.

Moreover, a private hospital in old city area had to send its ambulance with empty oxygen cylinders to Barabanki to get the medical oxygen. “I have one hour oxygen left and the ambulance has just left the gas plant.

We were allotted the stock of gas at 4 am in the morning but since morning the ambulance was waiting and has left for Lucknow just now,” said the doctor monitoring the health of 12 patients on ventilator.

“We have asked for more PPE kits and also nursing staff as we have limited staff according to the routine need and to run a Covid facility we need more. I am ready to pay salary but the administration needs to provide the additional staff,” said the owner of another hospital made a Covid facility in the city.

Attempts to contact CMO, Lucknow, on the issue did not fructify. Lucknow has 4,971 beds at 47 Covid facilities against which 3,910 patients are admitted.

There are 974 ICU beds and just 35 are vacant despite increasing the number of hospitals from 31 to 47. Of the total 1,694 HDU (high dependency unit) beds, 340 are vacant, according to the data updated till Monday evening. The state capital has reported 1,51,349 Covid cases and 1525 deaths so far.

More beds for Covid patients at KGMU

State medical education minister Suresh Khanna held a meeting with the officials of the King George’s Medical University that is running a 520-bed Covid facility. In the meeting held on Monday, it was decided that the medical university will add 100 more beds by Tuesday morning. The additional beds will be in the IDH building where a Covid ward was made during the first wave. In total, the KGMU will have over 800-bed Covid facility in the next few days.

Khanna, who reached the KGMU campus on Monday, held meeting with senior officials to decide the place where new Covid wards can be made.

“We have already started 60 beds at the Covid facilities that were not in use when the cases went down after the first wave. The surgical ward 1 is also being started with 26 beds and the old Covid ward at the IDH building is also being started. The process of fitting equipment has begun,” said Prof Uma Singh.

“Beds will be added at Gandhi Ward. In all, we will add 360 more beds with oxygen support to the existing strength in the next few days,” said GP Singh.

The Balrampur hospital, which has also been declared a dedicated Covid facility along with KGMU, presently has 215 beds with oxygen support, including 48 ICU beds. The hospital plans to take the bed strength to 500.