Kolkata: Some of the top private hospitals in the city were learnt to have been refusing Covid suspects as the areas earmarked for the suspected patients were merged with the Covid units to add-on to their existing Covid infrastructure.
Following the pressure from the state government to enhance the Covid infrastructure and to increase the bed capacity, some hospitals have merged the places meant for suspected patients with the Covid units.
As a result there suspected patients have allegedly been denied admission. A pressure mounted on the private hospitals after there was a surge in Covid infection across the state particularly in the city and its adjoining districts. But the Covid beds in almost all the private hospitals have been filled up. Stopping the admission of suspected patients would create pressure on government hospitals.
According to a senior health department official, the government hospitals have more than 11,000 Covid beds across the state whereas the private hospitals have limited seats. Private hospitals have less than 2,000 beds. As a result almost all the beds in private health units have been filled up. A top private hospital in Mukundapur has been asking suspected patients to produce a Covid report for admission. A senior official from the hospital claimed that the patients who have reports are being given preference over those who have symptoms but not undergone tests. Another private hospital in the city had allegedly refused a Covid suspect who was yet to receive his Covid report.
Another private hospital off EM Bypass has constantly been insisting on a report when the patients are asymptomatic. Instead of admitting the patients they are all demanding Covid reports. "If we admit suspects without a report it would put both the patients and health workers at risk. Hence we prefer the patients who have Covid reports in hands. One cannot put the entire doctors and health workers at risk by admitting suspected patients" said an official of a private hospital.
It may be mentioned here that the state government has asked to set up satellite health facilities across the state considering all these factors. The government in the last month had tied up with some private hospitals in Kolkata to start satellite health facilities where Covid patients with mild or no symptoms could be treated. The state has already come up with more than 100 "safe home centres" in Kolkata with a capacity of over 6,000 beds, where mild and asymptomatic patients can be kept.