Mounting cases of dengue trigger bed crunch in government hospitals in Delhi

New Delhi: The surge in dengue cases in the national capital have led to a serious space crunch in government hospitals with a facility in east Delhi operating a fever clinic from the driver's room while another prominent hospital has emptied its ortho and eye wards to accommodate patients.

Battling to provide treatment to the increasing number of patients pouring in at government facilities, hospitals like Ram Manohar Lohia have asked patients to share beds with saline, in many cases being administered to patients on the stretcher itself.

At AIIMS, critically ill dengue patients are being treated on stretchers in corridors due to absence of beds. "We are giving treatment to critically ill patients suffering from dengue on stretchers. We have no other option...the ICUs are full and we can't transfer them to other hospital as their condition are critical," said a senior doctor at AIIMS.

The condition is pathetic at government hospitals, which are grappling with shortage of space and staff along with shortage of beds. "There is lack of space so we had to open fever clinics in the driver's room. There is resentment among drivers as we have taken away their rooms, but we don't have space otherwise," said Dr Amita Saxena, Medical Superintendent of Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital.

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Deen Dayal Hospital has 200 beds allocated for disaster out of which many are being used for dengue patients. "We have done a complete reshuffling of beds from all our departments. Fever clinics have been opened in the Isolation near the emergency. We have emptied Eye and Ortho wards to accommodate dengue patients," said Dr Savita Babbar, Medical Superintendent, Deen Dayal Hospital.

"A dengue ward with over 75 beds has been set to cater to dengue patients. Also, we have opened a fever clinic in a hall close to the accident emergency block. But even this arrangement is proving insufficient," said Dr Yogesh Sarin, Medical Superintendent of Lok Nayak Hospital.

The situation is no different at Guru Tegh Bahadur, Ambedkar and other government hospitals where the administration said extra arrangements have failed to deal with the situation.

To meet the requirement of staff, Delhi Government hospitals have ordered cancellation of leave of all doctors and paramedical staff including nurses and lab technicians.

As hospitals across Delhi continued to be inundated with dengue patients, the Delhi Cabinet held an emergency meeting, which reviewed the deteriorating situation. It also explored various options to ensure that private hospitals do not refuse to admit dengue patients.

The AAP government also announced 1031 as dengue helpline and asked private hospitals to increase number of beds.

As cases of dengue continued to rise and inch towards the 2,000 mark, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal carried out surprise checks at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital and Dr Hedgewar Aarogya Sansthan yesterday.

As per the municipal corporation's data released yesterday, 613 cases of dengue have been reported in the last one week and a total 1,872 patients have tested positive for the vector borne disease till September 12.

The death toll as per the official data stands at 5, while as the per hospital's records, 11 deaths have been reported across the city till date.