Hospitals for Covid-19: Uniform system needed to ease patients’ hassles

The national technical advisory committee on coronavirus has recommended that all hospitals dedicated to Covid-19 treatment should be brought under a network to reduce the sufferings of patients.

If the recommendation is implemented, patients and their attendants, who would not find seats at a Covid hospital, will not have to take the trouble of finding out another hospital, Professor Dr Mohammad Shahidullah, chair of the committee, told The Daily Star yesterday.

He said, "For example, if a Covid-19 patient finds no seat at Kurmitola General Hospital, the hospital authorities would check the status of other hospitals and refer the patient to the nearest available hospital by issuing a token."

The patient would then be taken to that hospital by an ambulance arranged by the government, which is also a part of the recommendations made by the committee.

He said this simple initiative would reduce the sufferings of patients to a great extent

The committee that was formed on April 19 submitted a report to the health ministry on April 28.  

"Government is taking some steps but it should take this step [introducing a network] immediately as this will not cost anything, except strong management," said Prof Shahidullah.

Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) will coordinate the system, he said.

Shahidullah said the government had implemented some recommendations, but the hospitals are yet to be brought under an umbrella and the ambulance service was not introduced.

Contacted, Nasima Sultana, additional director general at DGHS, said currently there are four dedicated mobile numbers to give patients the update about seat vacancy.

"We are updating our strategy regularly and we are trying to lessen the sufferings of the patients," she added.

The Committee also recommended the appointment of specialised doctors, medical technologist and sufficient cleaners at the Covid hospitals for better treatment.

"The government told us that steps would be taken to fulfil the recommendations," said Shahidullah, also the president of Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council.

Earlier, the technical committee also recommended that the test number be increased and it was taken into account.

Shahidullah said the government must ensure that the test results are given within a day as any delay in this process would increase the risk of spreading the virus.

Nasima said initiatives were taken to fulfil the recommendations phase by phase as it was not possible to incorporate all the recommendations overnight.