BHUBANESWAR: On May 15, newly-wed Swarnalata Pal’s family had to hop from one hospital to another in sheer desperation seeking admission for the woman who was in dire straits. She died in an ambulance hours later.
This happened in the State Capital and explanation from the National Health Mission, Odisha to a news article was: #Dial108Ambulance carried the patient from home to Balipatna CHC & then to Capital Hospital, BBSR. On further advice for shifting to SCB MCH, the patient denied ambulance, preferring to make own arrangement. No call was received for this patient in #104CovidHelpline of #Odisha.
The family appears to have decided against going to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack despite advice from Capital Hospital which they approached first. But why did almost every hospital - government and private - refuse admission? Why did no health institution make any attempt to stabilise her despite the woman not even testing positive for Covid back then?
The Central government guidelines are clear - no hospital can refuse admission to a patient even without a Covid positive report. The State government had also stated that private hospitals cannot deny admission to a patient. Even if a patient does not have Covid report, the treatment should be carried out in isolation till the report is received.
Statistics of State Heath and Family Welfare department suggests that Capital Hospital’s ICU occupancy was zero on the day. Though it does not treat Covid patients and Swarnalata did not have a positive report, she was not given preliminary treatment for stabilisation and referred to SCB Medical College which is baffling. Swarnalata spent at least 8 hours in an ambulance moving from one hospital to another, in search of a bed. On that day, at least 39 per cent of general beds and 15 per cent ICU and High Dependency Unit (HDU) beds in city hospitals were lying vacant.
That’s government statistics. Of 1,716 general beds for Covid patients, only 1,050 were occupied in different hospitals while 969 out of 1,138 ICU/HDU beds had been occupied in city hospitals on the day.
Niranjan Bhol, the brother-in-law of the deceased, said at around 8.30 am in the morning when Swarnalata’s condition deteriorated, her in-laws took her to Athantar Community Health Centre (CHC) where the doctor advised to shift her to Capital Hospital as her oxygen saturation level was gradually declining. At Capital Hospital, the authorities advised her family to take her to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. The desperate family apparently decided otherwise.
With her oxygen level continuously falling, they took her to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar but were refused admission citing unavailability of general or ICU beds. Thereafter they made rounds of various government and private hospitals across the city, only to be denied admission at every place. She breathed her last at Capital Hospital without any sort of treatment. Her Covid positive report was received only 30 minutes before her death.
Meanwhile, the government has ordered a probe into the matter. The Capital Hospital authorities too have ordered an inquiry into the issue. “It has been clearly mentioned in the government guidelines that hospitals cannot refuse treatment to critical patients. In emergency cases, the patient needs to be stabilised first. Only then the hospitals can refer a patient depending on availability of beds,” said Director, Health Dr Bijay Mohapatra.