Corona virus: Gandhi Hospital doctors demand isolation wards be moved to city outskirts

Hyderabad: The junior doctors association (JUDA) of Gandhi Medical College raised objections to the government's decision to set up the nodal centre for Corona virus at Gandhi Hospital. The doctors, on 5 March, also appealed to the hospital superintendent to take immediate measures to shift the isolation ward from the hospital to the outskirts of the city.

Dr Lohith Reddy, president of JUDA, told NewsMeter, “Since the first case of Corona virus was reported in the city, we get around 2,500 to 12,000 cases in the out-patient department each day. Gandhi Hospital is a super-speciality hospital. It is not meant for the treatment of Corona virus. People from across Telangana come here. In the current situation, chances are high for the infection to spread among patients. Also, the ICU where the Corona virus patient has been admitted is next to the surgical ICU and casualty ward. So we feel it will be better to move the isolation ward to hospitals that are less crowded.”

“We are a teaching hospital and the rush due to Corona virus is also affecting our training sections. We are also not provided with proper space and protection gear," alleged the association.

Gandhi Hospital superintendent P. Sravan Kumar said, “Since this is a teaching hospital, the junior doctors have asked us to move the isolation ward. But I don’t think it's possible. The ward is already established so there is no possibility of shifting it anywhere. People with Corona virus infection are in need of such super-speciality hospitals. Now, the government has also given people a choice to go to private medical colleges if the need arises.”

Earlier, the Telangana government had granted permission to all private hospitals with experts and isolation wards to treat Corona virus patients. In addition, as many as 22 private medical colleges have come forward agreeing to arrange for an isolation ward in their hospitals with monitoring equipment, ventilators and nebulizers for corona patients.

Speaking about the move to allow private hospitals to treat Corona virus patients Mr Sravan Kumar said, “Private hospitals feed more money and put a larger bill. Treating Corona virus patients there will be expensive. Only medical colleges have offered free treatment. In that case, people will have to pay more for treatment."