Panicked patients seen overstaying at hospitals in Nellore
District Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu has also set up audit teams to monitor and rationalise use of life-saving medical oxygen
Nellore: Faced with shortage of beds in hospitals and mounting pressure from sick people for admissions, the district administration has formed special teams – discharge audit teams – to evaluate and convince the cured patients, some of whom are reluctant to leave hospitals on one pretext or another, to either go home or shift to Covid care centres.
The move is meant to prevent overstay and ensure admission to critically ill patients. In fact, medical and revenue officials manning the Covid hospitals are in a fix over handling the heavy pressure for admission as new patients are arriving in droves at hospitals every day.
The patients who have recovered are resisting moves to discharge them as they fear recurrence of symptoms and even a possible drop in oxygen saturation levels after going home, a medical officer said. He said that the insistence of such patients to stay back even after recovery has been denying care to new patients in critical condition.
Taking a note of the situation, District Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu has formed discharge audit teams at GGH and Narayana General Hospitals in the city to identify those in-patients doing well and take steps to discharge them. The teams have been told to shift the patients reluctant to go home to Covid care centres which are equipped with oxygen concentrators to deal with emergencies.
The teams have been asked to carry out audits in the morning and at night to speed up the discharges and increase the number of admissions.
The Collector also formed 3 teams with 3 doctors each and directed them to be present in the wards in turns during nights to contain the death rate which is high during nights. The teams also should check the supply of medicines and drugs being given to the patients and give feedback directly to the Collector in case of any lapses.
Sharing the information with Deccan Chronicle, Chakradhar Babu said he had also formed oxygen audit teams to cut wastage and save precious life-saving oxygen. “We have asked the teams to give details of ward-wise requirement of oxygen and actual utility to assess the volume of misuse and take remedial steps on a war-footing," he noted.
He thanked the Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre and Chairman of ISRO for dispatching 12 tonnes of oxygen on Wednesday, following his request citing the precarious situation in private hospitals. Oxygen had been distributed to 15 private hospitals in Nellore, the Collector informed.