THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Due to severe shortage of support staff in the wake of the lockdown following the COVID-19 threat, the functioning of private clinics and small hospitals, mostly in rural areas of the state, have come to a halt. The shutdown of such facilities has left a number of patients with minor illnesses and non-emergency medical needs in the lurch.
Though government-run primary health centres (PHCs) are open, many people hesitate to visit such facilities owing to the COVID-19 scare. Besides, PHCs and other government healthcare facilities are already pre-occupied with monitoring the COVID-19 situation and attending to patients with such symptoms on a daily basis.
"I have been suffering from a severe toothache for the past few days. The local clinic has shutdown abruptly and due to the restrictions imposed on travel, I have put off plans to visit a specialty hospital in the city for the time being. Also, it is better to stay away from hospitals now owing to the possibility of contracting the virus," said Surendran Nair, from Amboori in rural Thiruvananthapuram.
According to Dr Sushama Anil, state secretary of the Kerala Association of Small Hospitals and Clinics (KASC), small and medium healthcare facilities, with less than 20 beds, have been severely hit by shortage of support staff. The situation has aggravated after the lockdown was declared. A majority of the 2,000 small hospitals and clinics affiliated to the association had wound up operation a week ago.
"Till recently, many doctors who run small clinics have been functioning like a one-man army doing the role of the support staff as well. However, there is a severe shortage of Personal Protective Equipment which has forced many doctors to close down clinics," she said.
According to Dr Sushama, the state government has not issued any communication to small hospitals or clinics regarding their functioning. The Indian Medical Association (IMA), on the other hand, has left the decision on the doctors who run such clinics, with firm insistence on adopting sufficient protective measures while attending to patients.
OP services down
Large hospitals are seeing a huge drop in the number of out-patients. Even patients admitted for elective surgeries have sought voluntary discharge in the wake of COVID-19 scare.
"The drop in the number of patients can be attributed to the overall scare prevailing in the wake of the coronavirus situation. Also, the government had advised people to postpone non-emergency surgeries and visits to hospitals for the time being," said Sheba Jacob, joint secretary, Kerala Private Hospital Association.
Meanwhile, the managements of largescale private hospitals said they have extended all cooperation to the government to utilise their facilities to handle a possible spike in COVID-19 cases in the coming days.