Covid-19: Coronavirus fear cripples Bengaluru hospitals

Hospitals battling the worsening Covid-19 pandemic have been severely hamstrung by lack of staff, with private hospitals warning that the shortfall was up to 50% in hospitals in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka.

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According to doctors, who have sent out appeals for volunteers, the crisis worsened after hospitals were declared designated Covid centres.

Staff have either left jobs or are reluctant to work in Covid-19 wards. The fear has disrupted even the normal workflow of catering to other patients in these hospitals.

“This has made hospital operations difficult,” said Dr Prasanna H M, president-elect, Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association. “For Covid treatment, there are stringent quarantine guidelines for doctors and nurses. We can’t rope in medical and nursing students because they have returned home due to the lockdown.”

Dr Prasanna said that a large number of nurses, who hail from Kerala, have also returned to their hometowns.

“Most of the hospitals are facing this crisis. Staff members are not ready to work at Covid wards for even double the salaries,” he added.

On Sunday, a video by Dr Taha Mateen of HBS Hospital, Shivajinagar, Bengaluru, requesting volunteers at the hospital went viral on social media, putting spotlight on the issue.

Ruing lack of adequate staff, he urged volunteers to dedicate six hours to assist the patients.

Umar Mateen, co-ordinator for Mercy Mission and working with HBS hospital, said the video evoked a good response, with five doctors agreeing to support them.

“We have 80 beds, of which 20 beds are converted to Covid ICUs. We need 18 nurses and 8 doctors per shift for three shifts a day,” he said, adding many staff members are reluctant to work in the hospital after HBS was declared a designated Covid-19 hospital.

Dr Jagadish Hiremath, CEO of ACE Suhas Hospital, said the problem reared up in May after the government allowed inter-state travel. Since most of the nurses hail from Kerala or Tamil Nadu, the number of nurses fell from 60 to 45.

“In mid-June, our hospital was declared the designated Covid hospital for Anekal taluk. Seven people quit the same day,” he said. After the Covid-19 ward was set up last week, 14 staff members left even before patients arrived. “Four left yesterday (Saturday),” he told DH.

Sources said the problem was prevalent across private hospitals. “After cases started to spike, almost half the nurses in private hospitals did not turn up to work in Rajarajeshwari Nagar ward alone,” sources told DH.

When contacted, Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, who is in charge of Covid Care Centres in the city, admitted that there was a staff shortage.

“They will have to mobilise staff and the government is taking all measures to reduce the burden on these hospitals,” he said. All issues will be addressed when CCCs are expanded in a big way, along with assistance from all medical colleges, he added.