THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Notwithstanding a government directive against denial of treatment, some private hospitals are turning away COVID-19 patients who need emergency treatment. The hospital authorities cite the lack of isolation facilities for the treatment of COVID-19 patients as a reason. While the number of cases remains low, it causes considerable hardships to families of Covid patients.
A private hospital in Pathanamthitta district wanted the bystanders of a stroke patient to shift him to another hospital after he tested positive for COVID-19. The demand by the hospital authorities made the bystanders frantically look for alternative options for the critically ill patient. “The hospital is a tertiary care hospital with all modern facilities. Yet they were insistent on shifting the elderly patient as they did not want to arrange an isolation facility,” said a relative of the patient.
Similarly, in Kumbanad, another patient had to be swiftly transferred to a private medical college after testing positive for COVID-19 in a nearby hospital that lacked the necessary isolation facilities for the treatment.
Pathanamthitta District Medical Officer Dr L Anithakumari said hospitals cannot deny treatment, even in the face of facility constraints, as per existing government directives.
Dr E K Ramachandran, state treasurer of Kerala Private Hospital Association (KPHA), said that smaller hospitals are not prepared to deal with emergency cases involving COVID-19 patients. “Emergency COVID cases have been very few recently. That could be the reason why small hospitals refer patients to big hospitals which can arrange isolation facilities for 5-6 days. In non-emergency cases, if a patient is tested positive we tell him or her to treat for Covid at home. That way non-emergency surgeries are postponed till the patient is cured of Covid,” he said.
During the Covid wave, the government wanted all hospitals to arrange separate facilities for Covid and non-Covid patients. But this has been relaxed following the dip in new cases. However, recently the state has seen a spurt in COVID cases. The number of daily cases reported has jumped from 12 to 150 in a month. There have been three reported deaths in the past 10 days, as per official records. On Wednesday, Kerala reported 230 new cases.