Doctors of PGIMER showed their resentment in the notice of UT Administration
From Faculty to Residents of PGI, all are opposing the decision of UT Administration on declaring PGI as Regional COVID hospital.
The moment when Administration has decided to convert PGIMER as COVID Hospital and issued the notice. The city and Suburb based Hospitals started sending all Respiratory patients to PGI without checking and testing COVID in them. As a result, PGI again is suffering the pressure of the unnecessary patient load. Hence, it is dual harassment for patients and doctors. Hence, All chaos happened in Emergency. As a result, Senior Doctors and Residents Association has to jump the gun to tell the administration about the demerits of this decision.
The toll of COVID cases in Chandigarh is 18 with Grandmother and her Granddaughter of 10 months old found positive with Coronavirus and have admitted to GMCH 32. They got positive with Canada couple.
Now, PGI is COVID Hospital, many Hospitals of Punjab and other areas are not following guidelines and are sending patients to them without checking COVID status in them. Chandigarh Administration in its Notice has said that PGI will admit COVID Positive cases only whereas the rest of Hospitals in the city would also do admission, testing and screening for COVID patients.
As per ASSOCIATION OF RESIDENT DOCTORS OF PGIMER DECLARES THE DECISION OF UT ADMINISTRATION TO SHIFT ALL COVID POSITIVE PATIENTS TO PGIMER AS UNSCIENTIFIC. Whereas Senior Doctors are posting concerns on their Twitter handles. One of the tweet says
Further ARD-PGIMER expresses concern over the UT order No. PA/DHS/2020/438-439 dated 01/04/2020 directing the transfer of all patients confirmed to be COVID positive to the Nehru Hospital Extension facility of PGIMER, Chandigarh. We believe the hurdles involved in the safe transfer of these patients while endangering all those involved in transport and subsequently the Chandigarh population have not been given due consideration.
We raise the following concerns with regard to the same:
1) The number of patients with confirmed COVID in the U.T. currently stands at 18. These patients are being effectively isolated at all three tertiary care government facilities in Chandigarh. The isolation facilities at none of these centres stand overwhelmed. Transfer of all these stable COVID positive patients at this stage poses the risk of bringing them out of effective isolation with great risk of infection to all those involved in transport, their families and neighbors. To carry out this exercise on a daily basis with the diagnosis of fresh cases increases this risk manifold. Ambulance drivers, accompanying doctors, nursing personnel and the accompanying police force all stand at risk of contracting the infection and passing it on during the unnecessary transport of stable patients.
2) The sensitivity of COVID testing is not 100 percent, this will leave behind COVID patients with false-negative reports at other hospitals. The patient attendants and Health Care Providers will have a false sense of security that they are dealing with non-covid patients leaving them unprotected and at high risk of infection, which ultimately may result in community spread.
3) Once the limited number of beds in the Nehru Extension block are occupied by stable, non-oxygen requiring patients on account of mass transfers, there will be a paucity of beds and manpower for the management of the sick COVID positive cohort being referred from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, and other Northern states, who present with acute respiratory distress syndrome and require mechanical ventilation.
4) Two able tertiary care government hospitals are being absolved of their responsibility toward managing patients in this time of crisis, where the contribution of every healthcare worker is of immense importance.
5) Feasibility of vacant/almost ready other hospitals of UT like the one in Sector 48, Chandigarh to convert it as COVID Hospital should be considered. Entire medical fraternity with nursing staff can be included for rotational postings. We believe the measure to convert NHE, PGIMER as COVID hospital will facilitate the further spread of COVID, a scenario that we are attempting at all costs to avoid. We would like to propose that patients be referred from other hospitals only if they require ventilatory support if the same is not available at the other tertiary care facilities. This will allow optimum utilization of the dedicated NHE COVID hospital, at PGIMER Chandigarh