With no more than 13.6% of COVID-19 beds (including oxygen and ICU beds) allotted under government quota in hospitals across Karnataka being occupied, as of June 30, private hospitals want the beds they had ceded to the government during the peak of the second wave to be released.
This is to ensure that they can treat patients with non-COVID-19 ailments. The beds can be re-alloted if the number of cases go up again in the coming days, according to doctors from private hospitals.
However, the government has asked them to wait for some more time as several districts continue to have a high Test Positivity Rate (TPR).
As of Wednesday, of the total 42,513 beds (including general, ICU and oxygen beds) allotted under government quota in hospitals (both government and private) in Karnataka, only 5,776 have been occupied.
In BBMP limits
The occupancy is even less in hospitals under BBMP limits with a mere 796 of the total 6,442 beds occupied. In Bengaluru, the BBMP has not referred any patient to private hospitals for treatment under government quota for the last two weeks, doctors said.
Karnataka’s seven-day average TPR has come down from 14.27% as of May 31 to 2.35% on June 30. The number of active cases has reduced from 3,13,730 on May 31 to 76,505 on June 30.
Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes’ Association (PHANA) has raised the issue with Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar, asking him to release the 50% government quota COVID-19 beds for non-COVID-19 treatment.
“We had decided to write to the Health Department requesting them to release the government quota COVID-19 beds. Before that, I met the Minister last week and discussed the issue with him. He has told us to wait for some more time as several districts, such as Mysuru and Kodagu, continue to have a TPR higher than the State average,” PHANA president H.M. Prasanna told The Hindu on Wednesday.
“The department can issue an order on releasing the government quota beds only after the TPR falls below 5% in all districts. Currently four districts – Kodagu, Mysuru, Hassan and Dakshina Kannada – have a TPR ranging from 5% to 7.5%. Hence, we plan to wait till July 5 before writing to the government,” Dr. Prasanna said.
Financial loss
He said although demand for beds for non-COVID-19 ailments is under control, hospitals will suffer a loss if the government quota beds remain vacant for a long time.
“Private hospitals have not got any referrals from the government for the last two weeks. With Karnataka being unlocked, we are now expecting a huge rush of patients who had postponed their hospital visits for elective procedures and other non-COVID-19 follow-ups. Besides, road traffic accidents too will increase now,” he pointed out.
