Denied treatment, Covid patient breathes his last at hospital door

A 48-year-old resident of DJ Halli, who tested positive for Covid, passed away on Tuesday night after failing to get a bed in any of the hospitals in the city for three days.

“What is the point of having such a big government? I sobbed and begged the hospital administrations to admit my husband,” his inconsolable wife told DH on Wednesday afternoon.

A mother to three daughters and a son, aged between six years and seven, is now left on her own to take care of her kids.

“I have been hunting for a hospital bed for three days. He did not even get an ambulance with oxygen. That is why he died. I went to all big hospitals,” the resident of Amar Layout in DJ Halli said.

Akash Hospital was the last hospital she visited, at the doors of which her husband breathed his last.

“I went there because I was told a bed was available there. But even they did not admit him,” she said.

However, Dr Kailash N, Medical Superintendent of Akash Institute of Medical Sciences, Devanahalli, said there was no delay on their part.

“He was brought dead at the hospital. Critical patients need ventilators, which are currently full in our hospital. We have 600 Covid beds, 25 ICU beds and 20 ventilators and all are full. We currently have 390 Covid patients,” Kailash said.

Regal Hospital on Thanisandra Main Road had told her that they have a bed. But when she reached the facility, the hospital authorities said they have a dialysis patient to tend to, and that she has to wait till 7 pm on Tuesday, she alleged.

Even after she explained to them that her husband needs oxygen, they just asked her to wait.

However, Urologist and Head of Regal Hospital Dr Suri Raju had his own explanation.

The patient’s oxygen saturation level was 35% at the time of arrival. Patients who are sinking need to be intubated and put on a ventilator urgently. Giving oxygen alone is not sufficient, he said.

“Had we known the criticality of the patient, we wouldn’t have told the patient that we have a bed with oxygen. After the patient arrived, we realised that he needs ICU treatment. We have no intensivists or specialists. We have two ICU beds for non-Covid patients. Both were full on Tuesday,” he said.

“Also, we are a small hospital with 30 beds and one ambulance. We have still allocated 10 beds for Covid,” he added.

Meanwhile, she also contacted Tushar Girinath, the nodal officer appointed by the state to streamline bed allocation, who asked her visit the Vydehi Hospital in Whitefield.

“By the time an ambulance arrived, my husband passed away,” she alleged.

No help at hand

Nobody was ready to treat him though she was ready to pay any amount of money for his treatment.

"I did everything that Dr Ibrahim from Frazer Town guided me to do. He initial prescribed oxygen therapy," she said.

"Later, one Dr Stephen said my husband would recover if he gets oxygen. How much oxygen do I get and from where in a day? I got one cylinder from Frazer Town, and three cylinders from Basavanagudi," she said.

However, her ordeal did not end there.

On Tuesday evening, when DH had contacted her when she was still outside Akash Hospital, she said, "I am unable to get a bed for him anywhere. I called 108 ambulance who said 'go wherever you want'. When I dial 1912, it says to check the number and dial again."