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Examine referral chain to investigate rising Covid-19 deaths at Sassoon, says Dr Arun Gadre
As of April 16, 46 deaths were recorded in Pune due to the Sars-Cov-2 virus of which 38 occurred in the Sassoon Hospital
The abrupt transfer of the dean of BJ Medical College - Sassoon General Hospital, Dr Ajay Chandanwale, at a time when the Covid-19 death toll is mounting in Pune, is a misplaced step, public healthcare crusader, Dr Arun Gadre, has said.
Rather than blame the hospital for the high number of deaths, the ‘referral chain’ needs to be investigated to identify weak links and reasons why patients were coming in an advanced/critical condition to the hospital, said Dr Gadre, a public healthcare crusader and coordinator of Sathi, a voluntary group for advocacy and training in health initiatives.
The Maharashtra government, on Wednesday night, abruptly removed Dr Chandanwale as dean of Sassoon Hospital and he was transferred to Mumbai as Joint director of Directorate Medical Education.
As of April 16, 46 deaths were recorded in Pune due to the Sars-Cov-2 virus of which 38 occurred in the Sassoon Hospital.
While city politicians such as senior Congressman Arvind Shinde said he had complained to the government about alleged mismanagement by Dr. Chandanwale, the ousted dean had explained that most of the patients admitted to Sassoon were being brought in a very serious or critical stage with co-morbidity conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and asthma. “These patients come to Sassoon only when their condition is very serious and their survival becomes difficult despite our best effort,” he had said in an interview.
About his transfer, he said, he would respect the order. The hospital, in a statement, had said that it was well-equipped with medical equipment, doctors and staff dedicated to the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
Dr. Gadre said, “Late admissions could be one of the causes for the high deaths at Sassoon. It is my experience of 30 years that most government hospitals are used as ‘dumping grounds’ wherein patients are brought in at the very last stage. I would not like to use that word but that is the reality,” he said.
Dr. Gadre noted that public hospitals like Sassoon and King Edwards Memorial Hospital (KEM) were heavily over-loaded with patients and were doing enormous work compared to their capacity. “Their image is unnecessarily being tarnished,” he said.
About Dr. Chandanwale’s abrupt transfer he said, “As a doctor I felt that the fire was somewhere and the fire-fighting was being done somewhere else.”
“The referral chain is weak somewhere. All the links in the chain- right from the testing stage to bringing the patient to the hospital- needs to be examined to find out where is the delay happening; why are patients coming late to Sassoon,” he said.
Dr. Gadre felt that almost half the patients who had died could have survived had they come to Sassoon at an early stage. “This is what the government and the administration needs to tighten. If that is not done, the death toll at Sassoon is not going to reduce. This is the key issue that needs to be addressed and is not being addressed,” he said.
