HYDERABAD: As Telangana braces for the third wave of COVID-19 peaking in the coming four weeks, PG doctors are getting increasingly uneasy over the possibility of Gandhi Hospital once again being designated into a COVID-19 only centre.
They say that such a move will be detrimental to their studies as during the two earlier waves, no non-COVID services were available at the hospital. This led to students of various specialisations losing academic and clinical experience in their fields.
"Almost the entirety of 2020 and 2021 passed by treating just COVID-19 patients. Students doing specialisations like dermatology and psychiatry did not get any exposure as they mainly see patients on OP basis," stated a Telangana Junior Doctors Association office bearer.
It may be noted that while there is no official statement regarding the conversion of the hospital into a COVID-19 only centre, the PG doctors are worried that this may be done during the peak of the third wave, as was the case earlier.
Apart from losing out on their own academics and clinical experience, the PG doctors also say that they are concerned about the thousands of non-COVID patients currently undergoing treatment at Gandhi Hospital. The hospital sees ab-out 1,400 unique OP consultations daily and currently, almost all of its 1,200 beds are occupied by non-COVID patients.
If the hospital goes into an 'only COVID-19' mode, the pressure on Osmania Hospital will be immense, at a time it is cru-mbling due to lack of space. With no conclusive evidence yet on the nature and degree of hospitalisations in Omicron variant in India, the doctors fear that Gandhi, being the only super-speciality hospital, will have to bear the load of all comorbid cases.
"Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) till date does not have super specialist doctors and is managing only with senior residents. Even now, if a kidney patient or patient with high diabetes comes in, they refer the same to Gandhi Hospital," said a junior doctor.
Hyderabad Mayor Gadwal Vijayalaxmi takes stock of COVID preparations
HYDERABAD: Mayor Gadwal Vijayalaxmi on Thursday urged GHMC Commissioner DS Lokesh Kumar to take all necessary precautions in collaboration with the Health Department to check the spread of COVID-19.
The Mayor asked the civic body chief to get the staff prepared to handled the third wave. Lokesh Kumar said that administration of the second dose of the vaccine is nearing completion in the 4,846 colonies in the city.