BBMP sorts out Covid-19 bed allocation system

Faced with complaints from Covid-19 patients and their families who are unable to secure beds in hospitals, the BBMP has moved to streamline the allocation of beds.

In a new circular, D Randeep, Special Commissioner, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), made it mandatory for all admissions and discharges of Covid-19 patients to be done through the Covid Hospital Bed Management System (CHBMS), set up by the Palike and the Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST).

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This applies to both Covid-19 patients referred under the government quota of beds and private beds administered by private medical establishments.

The system does away with the previous method of issuing physical admission slips or referral letters by BBMP zonal commissioners, which had come severe criticism for being unregulated and arbitrary.

'Letters hard to obtain'

Activists and volunteers involved in bed allocation in the city told DH that the referral letters and slips were notoriously difficult to obtain from certain zonal authorities. This led to a swathe of patients attempting to secure a hospital on their own. This often created bed shortages with non-critical patients occupying the limited number of beds available for Covid-19 care.

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But in the case of technical issues with the CHBMS portal, the director of the portal will issue a notification to hospitals about the site being down, during time hospitals can insist upon a physical BBMP referral letter from the patient, during the “duration of the notification.”