HYDERABAD: The death of a journalist in Telangana who had a pre-existing condition of Myasthenia gravis, has raised severe apprehensions about the medical service rendered at Gandhi Hospital and other COVID-designated health facilities.
Even though officials argue that most of the COVID-19 patients who are dying had some co-morbidity such as TB, cancer, hypertension, kidney failure and high-risk pregnancy, among others, some videos, photographs and patient testimonies speak of neglect and lack of care that contributed to their tragic end.
The problem may not be with the medical treatment, but the overall care and experience offered by the hospitals. When TNIE spoke to COVID-19 patients at Gandhi, Nature Cure and Koti hospitals, they narrated their travails. One of them said the main problem is that once in the hospital the doctor-patient communication disappears.
"The problem begins the moment one tests positive for Covid-19. My younger brother was taken away at 11 pm and until 2 am he was sitting on the stairs, waiting for a bed. The authorities should understand that it is a pandemic disease and the patients are under great agony," one person from Goshamahal said. The person’s brother was lodged in a ward with 20 others and only two toilets to share.
Serious COVID-19 cases to be dealt with first, say doctors
"I was admitted with a mild fever. When I reached the Gandhi Hospital ward, I was put with much more sick patients who were persistently coughing and sneezing. There was no one to attend to them. I thought I would catch a more serious strain of the virus and fall very sick," another patient from Seethaphalmandi said. Both of them have been sent to home isolation now.
At the ICU of King Koti Hospital, patients wished for better communication and clarity on their health condition. "We are grateful to the doctors and the government for giving us free treatment at King Koti, but my aged mother is admitted in the ICU and I am in the general ward. I have no update on her health condition. If they tell us whom we should contact if her condition worsens, it would be a lot more comforting to us," a patient from Falaknuma said.
At the Nature Cure Hospital, which houses asymptomatic patients, hygiene is far from satisfactory but at least doctors and nurses visit the patients often. Meanwhile, officials of the Gandhi Hospital, which has over 250 patients, said not all cases require the same level of attention.
"We get many petty requests for changing pillows and bedsheets, which adds to the pressure we are already under. These complaints distract us from the patients who actually need our attention very badly," a doctor said. With home discharges allowed as per the ICMR guidelines, doctors contended that the cases which are very serious would be dealt with first.