The third wave has tapered down considerably and cases are down substantially, but no patients are willing to get back to hospitals just yet. Hospital managements say fear of COVID-19 is still keeping many patients away. Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes’ Association (PHANA) president H.M. Prasanna told The Hindu that the number of patients coming in is still low.
“Hospitals are seeing 30% of the usual patient numbers, probably because many still are under the fear of COVID-19, whether it’s gone or not. This is especially true for the 40 to 50+ age group, as most elective surgeries are in this category. Teleconsultations have also reduced as flu like symptoms have decreased,” he said. Vaccination is making a huge difference, he added, but acknowledged that demand for that too in private hospitals is low while the government programme is going on well. “Most don’t want to pay and are preferring to go to government hospitals,” he said. Concurring, T.R. Hemkumar, Consultant - Internal Medicine, Sakra World Hospital, said, “There has been slow uptake in non-COVID-19 patients coming back to hospitals.” But he said there is no sense of fear or panic as the third wave was milder and was almost over. “All the regular patients with diabetes, hypertension, chronic medical diseases are returning to the hospital. The number of teleconsultations had significantly increased during the wave, which is now returning to pre-COVID levels in the past one week to 10 days,” he added.
Sanjay Swamy, Chief Paediatric Intensivist, SPARSH Hospital for Women and Children, said non-COVID-19 patients have started returning.
“We are seeing elective surgeries happening again in full numbers. Initially, there was a bit of reduction in the number of elective surgeries, but over the last several weeks, it has started, especially the weekend surgeries. We do a lot of surgeries on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So those have definitely increased and the numbers are back to normal levels,” he added.
But he added that in the pediatric OPD, many parents are still reluctant to bring their children to the outpatient department and there is still a bit of fear.
“They predominantly opt for teleconsultations either on the phone or a video consultation for their children, unless there is something specific that needs admission. I believe teleconsultations are here to stay and we will continue to have teleconsultations. People now recognise that teleconsults are a way to get consultations,” he added.
