Delhi govt panels suggest ways to hospitals to bring down Covid deaths

Last week, the chief minister’s office had shared data which suggested that Covid-19 deaths in the city had dropped by 44.50% between July 1 and 12 compared to the corresponding period in June, citing data summarised from records of the health department.

Equipping Covid-19 wards with more high-flow nasal oxygen systems, scaling up plasma therapy administration in earlier stages of treatment, early transfer of severe patients to intensive care units (ICUs), and preparing for a ICU bed augmentation strategy for a potential second wave of the pandemic – these are some of the suggestions submitted to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office on Wednesday by committees set up by him to monitor Covid-19 mortality rate in hospitals.

On July 30, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal set up four committees to look into Covid deaths more specifically covering 10 hospitals – both public and private (ANI Photo)

The government, however, did not share any data from the findings of the committee. A senior official said that the report is being further analysed and more inputs would be shared in a few days.

Last week, the chief minister’s office had shared data which suggested that Covid-19 deaths in the city had dropped by 44.50% between July 1 and 12 compared to the corresponding period in June, citing data summarised from records of the health department.

On July 30, the chief minister set up four committees to look into Covid deaths more specifically covering 10 hospitals – both public and private – that include Lok Nayak Hospital, GTB Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, Max East & West, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, RML Hospital, Jaipur Golden Hospital, Sir Balaji Action Medical Institute, Escorts, and St. Stephen’s Hospital.

“The CM on Wednesday convened a meeting with the committees which were constituted last month to inspect the 10 hospitals (government and private) in the city with the highest mortality rate, and give hospital-wise recommendations on following standard operating procedures and protocols. In the meeting, each of the four committees submitted their reports and presented recommendations to the CM Arvind Kejriwal, to induce measures for the betterment of Covid patient care services and reducing mortality rate in the hospitals,” said Kejriwal’s office in a statement.

As per the summary of the reports shared by the CM’s office specifying hospital-wise recommendations to reduce mortality rate, the GTB Hospital was suggested to equip Covid wards with high-flow nasal oxygen systems and scaling up of convalescent plasma therapy.

High-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) systems is a supportive facility administered to Covid-19 patients for enhanced oxygen supply and control of the respiratory rate.

For Safdarjung Hospital, which comes under the central government, and Lok Nayak Hospital, which is Delhi government’s biggest covid hospital, the committees recommended developing of early warning scorecards to ensure prompt detection and shifting of patients from the wards to the critical areas and high-risk cases to be transferred to ICU at the earliest sign of deterioration.

For Safdarjung Hospital, the committees also opined that the number of covid ICU beds should be increased in case there is a second wave.

For three private hospitals in the city, which include the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute and Jaipur Golden Hospital, the committee suggested that they should ensure early detection of complications in patients on prolonged ventilation and management as per protocols and more timely application of HFNO.

“The CM reiterated on Wednesday that all steps should be taken to bring Covid deaths to zero. During the inspection by the committees, it was found that the death rate in all these hospitals has decreased as compared to earlier. The CM is personally monitoring all critical Covid-19 patients. Due to the direct intervention of the CM, immediate steps have been taken to reduce the rate of deaths in Delhi. On July 16, a checklist was sent by the health department to the hospitals for Covid patient management which further helped reduce deaths due to Covid. As a result, the deaths in Delhi have come down to just 11 today,” the statement issued by the CM’s office said.