Mumbai’s private hospitals heave a sigh of relief

Mumbai: Private hospitals in Mumbai are starting to see stability in the management of Covid-19 patients as increased bed capacity, reduction in active cases and wider use of home isolation help to ease pressure on their infrastructure.“We are seeing less rush and requests for hospital beds than we saw two weeks ago,” Hiren Ambegaokar, CEO of Raheja Hospital, told ET. “We now see there is an availability of beds in our wards and oxygen-supported units.”Mumbai has been the hardest hit by Covid-19 cases. Over the past two months, the city’s health infrastructure seemed to crumble under the growing number of cases. Several patients were unable to find treatment in hospitals because of a shortage of beds.76377679Ambegaokar said that until a few weeks ago, he would dread the evening calls that poured in from harried families of patients asking for beds. Now, when patients on the waiting list are informed that beds are available, they say they have found it elsewhere.“This is an encouraging trend,” he said.Mumbai had over 28,000 active cases as of Sunday. The total number of Covid-19 cases in ICUs was 1,177, data from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation showed.According to Manoj Munnur of Karuna Hospital in suburban Mumbai, although the patient load is increasing, things are better as they now work according to protocol. “There are minor challenges every day, though not sleep-disturbing,” he said.The biggest challenges on bed availability, Munnur said, are infrastructure and social factors. Mild patients get themselves admitted even when there is no need, afraid that if their condition worsens, they won’t get a hospital bed. On the other hand, patients who are stable after seven days don’t want to get discharged even if they are clinically fit because their families or residential societies won’t let them come home without a negative Covid-19 test report.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2AE9s8u