Rush for routine surgeries, beds run scarce in Delhi-NCR – ET HealthWorld

Recently, a senior bureaucrat had a medical emergency. His father, who was suffering from prostate gland issues, also developed Urinary Tract Infection that could not be managed with oral medications. When the 46-year-old rushed his father to a hospital, the doctor advised immediate admission.

“However, I was told there was no bed or room in the hospital. I kept sitting with my father in the waiting area all day and was given the same answer despite being ready to shell out any amount. Finally, after many calls and efforts, I managed to get a room at 9.30pm,” said the bureaucrat. A doctor from Uttarakhand, who came to Delhi for his wife’s treatment, said he faced the same problem.

On their part, hospitals said scarcity of beds was the result of a sudden surge in patients coming for elective surgeries.
“We are running at 100% capacity,” Dr DS Rana, chairman (board of management) at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH), told TOI. SGRH has five categories of accommodation available – general ward, semi-paying ward, semi-nursing home, single room and suites. Single rooms, which are the most sought after, have a waiting period of two days.

The heads of Indraprastha Apollo, Aakash Healthcare, Fortis group, Max Healthcare and Manipal hospitals also confirmed that they were running at full capacity.

“Before the pandemic, we were doing 50-60 major surgeries daily. When Covid-19 cases peaked, it went down by over a half. But now, with cases being at an all-time low, we are back to pre-pandemic levels,” said Dr Anupam Sibal, group medical director of Apollo Hospitals. He added that there were hardly any beds available, except those reserved for post-operative care and emergency cases.
Dr Ashish Choudhary, managing director of Aakash Healthcare, said patients who had been delaying elective surgeries for fear of infection were coming from across the country to get operated. “We have also witnessed a rise of almost 30% in patients from other countries since the resumption of international flights,” he added.

Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, group medical director of Max Healthcare, which runs six hospitals in Delhi, said their overall occupancy was 76%.

“We are seeing high occupancy across our network hospitals since February. These are elective and emergency surgeries in specialties including cardiology, oncology, orthopaedics, neurology, transplant, etc. The occupancy numbers are higher than pre-Covid levels due to more patients coming to hospitals. Also, the flow of patients is traditionally higher during this time of the year,” added Budhiraja.
Dr Raman Bhaskar, director of Manipal hospital, Dwarka, said they had witnessed a steep rise of 35% in the number of patients seeking elective surgery over the past few weeks.

Dr PP Singh, head of urology and kidney transplant at PSRI Hospital, said he was conducting more surgeries than the pre-pandemic times. “It has certainly caused a strain on the infrastructure, but it is manageable. If Covid cases go up and are severe enough to warrant admission, they will put an extra burden on the healthcare delivery system and lead to reduction in routine surgery cases,” he added.