HYDERABAD: Though the State government’s dashboard on status of beds indicates ample availability, many private hospitals in Telangana are turning down Covid-19 patients in need of oxygen and ICU support, leaving their families in a lurch. Reportedly, private hospitals are being forced to arbitrarily downsize bed strength owing to acute shortage of oxygen.At 12 pm on Thursday, the real-time dashboard showed that 460 oxygen beds were available at private hospitals in Hyderabad district.
However, when Express spoke to nearly 12 hospitals — which, as per the dashboard, had 10-50 beds each — it was found that the data was largely incorrect. Amongst these 12 hospitals, only two had a handful of oxygen beds.It may be mentioned that the dashboard had listed at least 120 private facilities with oxygen beds, but a majority of them had just 1-2 beds in all.
A majority of the hospitals that Express had contacted maintained that they had beds, manpower and equipment, but were short on oxygen supply, which was why there was a mismatch between the live dashboard figures and actual numbers.For instance, New Life Rehabilitation Centre in Banjara Hills claimed that though they had beds, due to shortage of oxygen supply, they were forced to accept only patients who were stable.
As per the dashboard, 36 oxygen beds and eight ICU beds were available at the hospital as at 12 pm.
The situation at Udai Omni Hospital in Nampally and Bristlecone Hospital in Hayathnagar was more or less the same. The authorities concerned maintained that they had no choice but turn away patients as oxygen supply for existing patients was not sufficient for the day. At 12 pm, the dashboard indicated that the two hospitals had 16 and 11 oxygen beds, respectively.
In fact, renowned teaching medical colleges were also denying beds to patients. While Malla Reddy Medical College For Women, Suraram, claimed only non-ICU/oxygen beds were available despite the dashboard showing availability of 46 oxygen beds, Mamta Academy of Medical Sciences, Bachupally, said that they were not taking in Covid-19 patients. The latter institute continued to be listed on the dashboard with 160 beds.
WATCH:
Telangana Hospitals Nursing Homes Association (THANA) said that oxygen shortage was a reality, and that it could get worse in the coming days. “However, we are closely working with the government, which has been procuring oxygen from various States and supplying it to registered distributors,” added Dr Krishna Rao, president of THANA.Health Minister Eatala Rajender also said that he had written to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan to assist Telangana in procuring oxygen from Bellary, Hospet, and Vizag.