Mumbai News

Chandigarh: Try Mumbai model to tackle the surge, suggest experts – Times of India

CHANDIGARH: Instead of mixing up non-Covid-19 facilities with Covid-19 ones at PGI, the public health experts recommend Mumbai-based system of triage. In this system, a triage doctors’ team assess patients and send them accordingly to that facility.
If a patient needs service of tertiary care, the team will take the patient using the live data of the availability of beds. Also, there should be a pool of specialists from all the hospitals across the Tricity to overcome shortage of intensive care specialists etc.
With an overwhelming flow of patients at the PGI, the Nehru hospital is also being used for Covid-19 patients. The emergency’s trauma centre takes in these patients and once there is a room in the Covid-19 hospital, some are shifted, while others have to wait.
The communicable wards have again been converted into Covid-19 wards, while the advanced pediatric centre has shifted children from the Covid-19 hospital to the centre to make place for adult patients.
“It is not possible to have segregated rooms within the same hospital. But we are using some of the floors only for Covid-19 patients,” said a faculty.
Last year, when the first case of death at the PGI due to Covid-19 was reported, where a patient from Nayagoan was admitted in the emergency and later shifted elsewhere, the institute had learnt it the hard way to segregate wards and thus open a dedicated Covid-19 hospital.
“Most of our nurses and staff had turned positive after this case. It was the first time that we were tackling the pandemic and knew nothing. But now it is a compulsion as we do not have space in the Covid-19 hospital,” said a faculty.
However, public health experts feel Mumbai’s model, which has been replicated by Bangalore recently, can work better now.
“Patients usually shuttle in search of beds. This can be avoided when such cases are relayed to the triage coordinator directly from the hospital. They can decide depending on the case, which hospital can manage the patient. The same can be immediately seen on the live dashboard of bed availability,” said the public health expert, who has seen Mumbai’s way of working.
He said, “The team can coordinate and ask the hospital to block a bed till the patient is transferred.”

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/chandigarh-try-mumbai-model-to-tackle-the-surge-suggest-experts/articleshow/82650525.cms