Although the number of COVID-19 positive cases is high, the city has adequate number of hospital beds. As of Thursday evening, around 50% of the total 5,802 beds in government hospitals, government medical colleges and those allocated by private private hospitals and private medical colleges for COVID-19 patients under government quota were vacant. The details were put up on the BBMP website.
R. Ravindra, president of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA), said that although beds reserved for COVID-19 patients are available, some hospitals are facing a shortage of beds to treat other patients and even those who are suspected of contracting the virus.
But Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds across most private hospitals have an occupancy of 90 to 95%, according to Dr. Ravindra. He added that private hospitals have asked the State government to pay them 25% of the daily charges if hospital beds under the government quota for COVID-19 patients are vacant.
“These beds are locked. Although we do not have COVID-19 patients for these beds, we have been told they cannot be used for any other purpose. It is becoming hard for us to maintain our finances as we have hiked the salaries of nurses and doctors who are on COVID-19 duty,” he added.
Many families are demanding that hospitals should ensure that non-COVID-19 patients don’t go through unnecessary hardship.
“My uncle had kidney stones. We did not get a bed in a hospital in south Bengaluru. The management told us even though they had empty beds, they were reserved for COVID-19 patients. It is a distressing time for non-COVID-19 patients. We hope that the government will find a solution in the interest of patients,” said a 40-year-old software engineer.
Only 19 % of the 2,721 beds in COVID-19 Care Centres managed by private hospitals are occupied. Doctors and medical experts point out that this is because many asymptomatic patients have chosen home isolation.
