Hospitals chock-a-block

At Sassoon General Hospital, patients from the paediatric surgery, neurosurgery and cosmetic surgery departments have been forced to move out of their beds. The reason: beds are needed to accommodate the rising number of swine flu patients.

What is worse is that soon even the general ward may be out of bounds for many, as the hospital dean says it is fast filling up with malaria and dengue patients.

"Shortage of beds has hit us hard and we might have to shut down a few departments for a few days if things remain like this. The majority of the cases are of swine flu, followed by malaria and dengue," said Dr Arun Jamkar, Dean of Sassoon. "We might have to consider postponing routine surgeries if there are too
many patients."

Patients on floor
The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC)-run YCM Hospital is at more than 100 per cent of its patient capacity.

"We have 650-bed capacity, but more than 750 patients have been admitted. The less serious ones are in the corridors, or lying beneath cots. Some have been shifted into wards that had been closed for repairs," said
Dr Nagkumar Kunchagi, medical officer, PCMC. "The rest are being transferred to other hospitals."

It is not only government hospitals but also private ones that are packed to capacity. Bed occupancy rates are between 95 per cent and 100 per cent, said hospital administrators.

At Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital, it may take anything between three days and a week to get a hospital bed
confirmed, said Dr Dhananjay Kelkar, hospital medical director.

"Bed occupancy is 100 per cent. Except for emergency cases, new patients are put on a waiting list and then it depends on their luck how soon they get a bed," said Kelkar.

At Ruby Hall Clinic, the scene is similar. Though swine flu cases are few here, a large number of malaria and dengue cases have been admitted.

"Though bed shortage is a seasonal thing and usually happens at this time of the year, it's true that the number of patients is higher than usual," said CEO Bomi Bhote. "Maybe smaller hospitals can accommodate extra patients."

Dr C A Kante, head of the swine flu cell, agreed the number of positive cases this year had risen sharply compared to last year.

"Today an average of 45 to 55 people test positive every day. Last year, patients were fewer," he said. "Maybe the virus is more active this year."

'No isolation'
Besides the delay in getting hospital beds, patients are complaining that the shortage has also forced hospitals to mix swine flu and other patients as isolation wards are shutting down.

Take Bangalore-based Rajsri Ramesh's case. She was scared out of her wits when she was told that her ailing mother in the ICU of Hadapsar's Noble Hospital could have contracted swine flu. The 42-year-old banker was in the city to look after her mother, Amini Rajan, after she underwent an angioplasty. She complained that her mother had lain next to a swine flu positive patient.

"My mother was on Bed Number 17 and I was shocked to see an H1N1 patient in the same ward on Bed Number 1. Later, my mom and that patient's bed were interchanged," said Rajsri. "A couple of days later they approached me to take a swine flu swab for my mom, but I flatly refused."

She alleged that the hospital had severe shortage of beds and so they kept H1N1 patients in same ICU as others.

Refuting Rajsri's claims, Dr Dilip Mane, managing director of the hospital, said, "Sometimes it happens that a fever patient is admitted along with others and later he tests positive for the virus. That can happen with any hospital," said Mane. "We have a separate isolation ward for H1N1 patients."