Collector Vivek Yadav set the ball rolling for a revamp of the oldest teaching hospital in the State — the Government General Hospital, Guntur — by initiating a slew of reforms.
In the wake of major incidents at Tirupati and Anantpur, the reforms are expected to bring in change in the administration process and maintenance of the hospital.
At the end of an exhaustive review on the functioning of the GGH, the Collector said that triaging should be scaled up and care taken to ensure that beds are allotted to only serious patients who present with symptoms like a drastic drop in SPO2 levels, high fever, and incessant cough.
Senior officers would be deputed to supervise admissions and discharges and give daily status reports on the patients, while special officers will monitor the supply of oxygen, pressure and pipelines and conduct a daily audit of oxygen supply. Qualified biomedical engineers will handle sanitation and other officers will handle security.
“I urge all doctors and staff to perform their duties with utmost care and urgency and ensure that we have sufficient supply of oxygen. Do not yield to pressure over admissions and refer each case on its merit. Only serious cases should be admitted to the ICU. If the patient shows mild symptoms and is recovering, he or she should be shifted to stepdown ICUs after counselling. It is better to counsel patients on proning positions and breathing exercises and display posters on these exercises,” said Mr. Vivek Yadav.
A special drive should be done by Guntur Municipal Corporation at the GGH to get rid of all unwanted furniture, dilapidated vehicles and scrap, he said.
The GGH is one of the oldest teaching hospitals in the State with a bed capacity of 1,200, and it is often teeming with patients from Guntur, Krishna, Prakasam and even West Godavari districts. Several new facilities have been added over the years, but chinks remain.
Lack of proper sanitation, security, biomedical engineering and mechanical engineers to maintain power and generators have ailed the hospital for years. The quality of food too has not improved and the lack of waiting halls meant that attenders of patients are often found sitting under trees or in the wards along with the patients.
