Healthcare begs for more care

Several city hospitals began performing robotic surgery this year

The year was a mix of highs and lows for Delhi’s health sector.  While certain accidents and agitations brought out the limitations and shortcomings in city hospitals, many new technologies and success of rare medical cases gave confidence in one of the most sought-after service.

The death of five patients in the intensive care unit of Sushruta Trauma Centre due to lack of oxygen supply brought a bad name to the upkeep of even sensitive areas in city hospitals. The reports of various committees pointed to faults in outsourcing hospital staff to private contractors, and lack of supervision by the administration. Health minister A K Walia subsequently suspended and transferred many officials, and formed a committee to look into infrastructure issues in hospitals.

At least 2,000 cases of dengue were reported in four months, and complaints of non-availability of platelets in hospitals also put a question mark on the readiness of the government to deal with a possible outbreak.

Four female patients, including a pregnant woman, died due to dengue. Allegations by people working in the health sector that dengue was under-reported, and subsequent denial by municipal corporations that it has reached a point of crisis, had irked many.

The case of baby Falak, the battered child who was treated in AIIMS trauma centre and who succumbed to injuries, kept doctors on their toes for over a month. Multiple surgeries on the two-year-old girl and improvement in her condition became the talk of the nation. The matter got responses even from abroad, with people expressing desire to adopt her if she survived.

The most recent case is the gang rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapist. The brave girl has been keeping doctors of AIIMS, Safdarjung and GB Pant Hospitals busy under the close watch of the media.

On the brighter side, Safdarjung and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospitals bought robots worth Rs 12 crore each to perform minimally invasive surgeries with high precision level.
Many private hospitals and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences have been using robots for many years. With addition of two more government hospitals, quality healthcare has reached poorer sections of society.  AIIMS also performed some landmark surgeries.

A child whose head weighed 8 kg due to collection of cerebral fluid, was operated upon successfully by the AIIMS neurology department. Similarly, a woman who had a cancerous lump between two breasts was treated successfully in a rare feat.

Two new hospitals of tertiary care will start functioning by February-end. Rajiv Gandhi Hospital in Tahirpur and Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital were built years ago, to be made operational under a public-private partnership mode. But the PPP model did not work out, and the government decided to start them under an autonomous mode. The charges will be higher than general government hospitals.

The health minister announced that eight general hospitals will be built in across the city, primarily in peripheral areas. This will reduce the burden on hospitals located in central and south Delhi. A new private ward was inaugurated in Lok Nayak Hospital, with fully-paid six beds reserved for hospital employees.