The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued a new protocol to be followed on admitting COVID-19 patients at hospitals in order to ensure effective bed management.
BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said that all symptomatic coronavirus patients must undergo a medical checkup by civic doctors at home before being allotted beds in hospitals.
According to the officials, all 24 wards have been directed to form a team of 10 medical staff including doctors who will visit patients’ houses and check their parameters in order to understand the type of bed required for admission.
On Friday, April 23, Chahal held a special meeting to achieve more effective management regarding the distribution of beds to patients as in the past few days, the number of coronavirus patients has increased and there are reports that they face serious difficulty in getting beds.
The visit will be done between 7 am and 11 pm. Later, the patient will be brought to the nearest jumbo centre and will be tested and admitted, accordingly.
The coordination for the visit of doctors to the COVID-19 patient’s home will be done by the respective ward war room.
According to BMC officials, this way, patients will be allotted beds as per their need and medical condition, and not just based on their explanation or narration of their medical condition.
Moreover, civic officials said after the medical examination, if a bed recommended by doctors is not available for the patient, then they will be put on the waiting list. Once a bed is available, it will be allotted to the patient. The number of calls at ward war rooms has increased in the past few days.
According to reports, in the past few days, the number of COVID-19 patients has increased and there are reports that patients are having difficulty getting a bed. The BMC helpline number 1916 was earlier getting around 2,500 calls daily, but that has now gone up to around 5,000 calls a day.
Therefore, another senior civic official said given the fact that the ward war rooms get hundreds of calls each day for beds, visiting all patients for medical examination in their homes will be difficult.