NEW DELHI: With Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre (JPNATC), AIIMS, being a Covid facility, the department of neurosurgery has expressed dissatisfaction over delay in trauma treatment and emergency care process. “In February 2020, we were seeing approximately 5,500 cases of emergency in trauma centres.
In April when lockdown happened we saw 1,100 cases. February 2021, we are again back to a figure of 4,000 plus. We are not able to cater to all emergency trauma cases at AIIMS. Number of beds and OTs reduced because of Covid while trauma cases have not come down,” said Dr. Deepak Gupta, Professor Neurosurgery, AIIMS to The Morning Standard.
As against 70-80 cases of head injury care beds in trauma centers, AIIMS is now able to provide support only to 25-30 head trauma cases including other neurosurgical emergencies like brain tumors, brain hemorrhages, hydrocephalus. As against over 1000 head and spinal injuries operations in 2019, only one third of head injuries could get admission and operated in 2020 at AlIMS.
Dr Gupta noted that owing to delay in dates, many patients could not be treated and lost lives. “Patients have to deposit `20,000 for brain tumour surgery and now families are coming back to us asking to refund their money because their patient died waiting for dates to come,” he mentioned.
The neurosurgery department noted that the waiting list of these patients have increased significantly at AIIMS and the biggest problem for them now is holding up trauma patients. “They need to be treated at the earliest irrespective of their Covid status. If a trauma centre is opened, we can treat more emergency patients.
Some policy decisions need to be taken by the government. Other hospitals like LNJP have resumed back. And the JPNATC is grossly underutilized now. Trauma and Head injury cannot be ignored,” stated Dr Gupta. Recently, during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said that 1.5 lakh people died due to road accidents in the last one year which is more than 1.46 lakh deaths due to Covid-19.