NEW DELHI: Nitin Bhardwaj, a resident of Burari in north-east Delhi, got his father admitted to
Lok Nayak Hospital
for
Covid-19 treatment
three days ago. The 30-year-old alleges that no nurse or doctor visited him throughout the day, and for food his father was dependent on what they would get him from home.
"I could not let him stay like this. So I fought with the hospital to get him discharged, and last night (Thursday), we brought him home," Bhardwaj told TOI .
He is not alone. Families of many patients admitted to the hospital - which is the largest Covid facility run by the Delhi government - have similar stories. The staff is clearly overwhelmed, and scared too, it seems. Besides neglect, there is a clear lack of communication with the families of the patients which causes anxiety.
41% beds filled at LNJP, but it has its hands fullA video released by a news channel recently showed patients lying in absolute neglect with bodies in a ward of the hospital. A senior doctor from the hospital, who did not want to be quoted, said the contents of the video aired by India TV looked authentic. “There is nothing to justify such instances. It’s shameful,” said the doctor.
Bhardwaj’s father, who is 59 years old, is a central government employee. He is currently stable and, family members said, they are giving him antibiotics, hydroxychloroquine and anti-viral and antipyretic drugs as prescribed by a doctor.
“We have also found out about a company that provides oxygen cylinders on rent. If needed, we will give him that too at home but we will never go back to the hospital,” said Bhardwaj.
Col Rajesh Kumar’s brother-in-law, Kunj Bihari Sharma, was admitted to the hospital for Covid-19 treatment on June 3. “He was 60 but a very fit man. Every year, he would go to Haridwar from Delhi on foot for the Kanwar Yatra but Covid-19 didn’t spare him. My brother in-law developed fever and cough on May 26 and about a week later he complained about breathing difficulty. That’s when we rushed him to Lok Nayak,” said Col Kumar. He passed away on June 10.
Throughout his stay in the hospital, Sharma had kept complaining about the facilities and people dying around him. “We thought he was being anxious. Now we know he was right,” said Kumar. Niggling doubts about whether he could have been saved haunt such families.
Elderly patients and those with co-morbidities face a heightened risk but their alleged neglect and the inordinate delay in removing bodies from the wards heighten their trauma, particularly when there are no attendants.
“The bodies are packed and shifted to the mortuary by nursing orderlies under the instruction of the sister incharge. We don’t have enough orderlies,” said a doctor who wished to remain anonymous. "In the absence of attendants, these orderlies have to take the patients to the washroom, shift them and sometimes even give them medicines while they are wearing PPE suits. That isn’t easy and it takes longer than required." The doctor added that six to eight people are dying every day at the hospital.
The hospital has 2,000 Covid-19 beds. Of these, only 826 (41%) were occupied on Friday. "If this is the situation, I wonder what will happen if more people fall sick and are rushed here. Not everyone can afford private facilities and even they have limited capacity," said one of the doctors.
One of the key requirements in Covid-19 management is oxygen support. This is because the novel coronavirus impairs lung function, and if mechanical ventilation is not given in time, lack of oxygen can lead to further damage to other organs and tissues. Lok Nayak has centralised oxygen supply in the new medical block and the casualty block. The two blocks house around 400 patients.
But in many other wards which have been turned into
Covid-19 facilities
, oxygen support is provided by cylinders. “In case of cylinders, it is difficult to control the oxygen flow. Also, if a cylinder is exhausted, replacing it takes time because currently there is a manpower shortage and the orderlies who have to get them take time to wear their PPE,” said a doctor who wished to remain anonymous. "The states were required to augment their capacity during the lockdown. That clearly hasn’t happened,” say experts.
On May 15, the Resident Doctors Association of Maulana Azad Medical College — which is associated with Lok Nayak — had written to the hospital administration, highlighting the lack of trained nursing orderlies and support staff to help with work usually performed by attendants. "Since attendants are prohibited in the wards, patient care is hampered due to the difficulty in managing basic housekeeping services,” the RDA wrote. This had proved to be prophetic.
Dr Parv Mittal, president of the RDA, said doctors on ground zero are putting in their maximum effort to ensure that every Covid-19 patient gets the best possible treatment, in the process even getting infected themselves. “Shortage of nursing orderlies and housekeeping staff is a major underlying cause of dissatisfaction amongst the patients and relatives,” he said.