Hospitals get the jitters as dengue count mounts

By evening,the hospital had admitted 22 dengue-affected patients in its wards. A doctor,who wished to remain anonymous,said that the number of patients has seen a drastic increase in the last few days. “Three days ago,the number was 25,then it rose to 35. It almost touched 50 on Monday,” he said.

Meanwhile,the hospital is struggling with a manpower crunch,among other things. In the emergency ward,doctors are working overtime — attending to patients for more than 10 hours a day. Earlier,the Malviya Nagar Hospital was only an institution designated to screen patients suffering from dengue. The ones that suffer from bleeding or need blood transfusions were being sent to Safdarjang Hospital or AIIMS,which are better equipped to handle such emergencies.

However,after the number of cases in Okhla and other South Delhi areas started rising,Health Minister Kiran Walia gave the hospital some additional responsibilities. Two ambulances were designated to ferry patients from Okhla to the hospital,either to screen them for dengue or treat them in its wards. So far,they have sent around 10 patients — who they were ill-equipped to handle — to Safdarjang Hospital.

“There are a lot of patients now. And we have only 100 beds,” Dr Sufiyan,a junior resident doctor,said.

However, more than infrastructure problems,the hospital is smarting under a severe shortage of healthcare staffers. According to a senior doctor,around a dozen posts in the hospital are still lying vacant. And,given the fact that it comes under a centralised system of recruiting,the situation is similar in many hospitals across the city. “With dengue spreading and the Commonwealth Games approaching,the government should look at hiring healthcare personnel on a contract basis. Manpower is important. We are stretching ourselves,” Sufiyan said.

Four years after the Delhi Health Services (DHS) — under which the vacant posts of doctors were to be filled — was instituted,a large number of positions still lie vacant. According to a Right To Information reply to a request filed by Digvijay Yagya,a non-profit government organisation,only 917 of 1,228 posts in 31 hospitals across the city have been filled. The RTI reply also showed that only half the 500 posts for non-teaching and teaching specialist doctors had been filled,and the rest were lying vacant.

If there was more manpower,the waiting time for lab technicians — who are screening the patients — would be less and it would help patients,the senior doctor said.

The number of affected cases in the capital rose to 496 on Tuesday,with 43 fresh cases being reported (the highest so far this year,recorded in a single day). On Monday,34 fresh cases were reported.

“I don’t know at what point they will declare this an epidemic,” the doctor added.

Outside the hospital,Nishat Parveen could be seen getting ready to leave with her daughters,two of whom were suffering from dengue. Stating that they underwent treatment for three days,Nishat said,“We paid nothing for the treatment. The system seems to be working…”

But not everybody was as lucky,monetarily. Rolly Kumar,a Vasant Kunj resident,had to pay as much as Rs 75,000 for getting treated for dengue at a reputed private hospital.

H1N1 claims two

Besides dengue,the national capital is also struggling with the H1N1 virus. After two women died in Delhi due to swine flu,the number of people who have succumbed to the illness has now increased to 23. The number of confirmed cases in the city climbed to 659 after 37 swab samples tested positive on Tuesday.