Maharashtra government on Thursday issued a scathing order indicating a stern action against heads of the government, municipal and private hospitals in Mumbai and the rest of the state for either refusing or delaying treatment or admission of the COVID-19 patients causing delay in treatment and holding ambulances for long time. The order signed by the Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta will come into effect from 10 am on May 2.
The mobilisation of the ambulances within Mumbai limits should be controlled by the Disaster Management Department (DMD) of BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Government order comes close on the heels of progressive COVID-19 positive cases as on April 29 surged to 9,915 with 432 deaths in Maharashtra. Of 9,915, 6,644 cases and 270 deaths are in Mumbai alone.
Any patient entering into hospital premises for the treatment of COVID-19 or not COVID-19 ailment should be immediately checked into casualty or screening clinic and after triage, patient may be shifted or admitted. Depending upon the site conditions the staging area may be created for screening and triage of the patient in isolation so that infections are not transmitted. No patient is to be turned away without examination and required intervention under any circumstances.
The Directors of the Health Services should prepare the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for screening, transferring, admitting and discharging of patient. Each patient requiring hospital admission will be assigned an unique ID by the round the clock onsite team of the DMM of BMC without which admission cannot be granted. DMD should use this more accurate and efficient bed management in all hospitals.
In order to decongest hospitals, all asymptomatic positive patients without comorbidity should be shifted to appropriate COVID Care Centres (CCC) immediately and COVID and non-COVID hospitals should ensure that no admissions are granted to asymptomatic positive patients without comorbidity. Similar patients in private hospitals should be stamped and sent away for home quarantine after proper counselling according to the Government of India guidelines.
Further, hospitals should collect swabs of all the suspected COVID-19 patients admitted on top priority and ensure that reports are collected within 12 hours and should ensure that patients are triaged as pr the clinical conditions and shifted to CCC, Dedicated COVI Health Centre (DCHC) or Dedicated Covid Hospitals (DCH).
In case of death of COVID 19 positive patient the hospital administration should ensure that the dead body is shifted from ward within 30 minutes of death and should dispose bodies within 12 hours for which necessary processes be defined keeping in view of the prevalent regulations.