BENGALURU: Soon, one need not make frantic calls on the availability of beds or run from one private hospital to another looking for beds, as the Private Hospital and Nursing Association (PHANA) is coming up with a web portal giving real time updates on the availability of beds for private quota patients.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), during the first wave of the pandemic, had launched a website giving details on the number of beds allocated and reserved at general wards, HDUs, ICUs and ICU ventilators at dedicated Covid Healthcare Centres at both private and government hospitals and medical colleges. But as it does not provide information on the availability of private quota beds, PHANA is starting its own dedicated web portal.
PHANA president Dr HM Prasanna said, “The situation is alarming now with people not getting beds. Many call up hospitals trying to find beds, while others walk into hospitals, and wait till they get a bed. We thought that there is a need to provide real time information to the public on the availability of beds as they can reach such hospitals immediately. This will avoid unnecessary waste of time for patients, which has led to late admission and, in some cases, death.”
The portal is being developed by Knowledge Lens under their CSR funds. So far, 35-40 of the city’s over 300 private hospitals have registered on the portal. “Over 7,000 Covid patients are being treated at private hospitals. The portal will increase transparency on the number of beds allocated, available and reserved for patients of both private and government quota patients at private hospitals. Not only hospitals under PHANA, we want other private hospitals too to enroll. Twenty volunteers will maintain the website and are talking to hospitals to enroll,” said Dr Rajashekar YL, secretary, PHANA.
Asked when the portal will be launched, he said, “We are in the final stages of testing and we will launch it once all the glitches are ironed out. Hospitals will be trained on how to update data as and when new admissions happen and patients get discharged.”