E-Paper
Special 24x7 cells at Delhi govt hospitals to monitor admission, treatment protocols
New Delhi On the direction of chief secretary Vijay Dev, the health department has constituted special 24x7 cells in all 11 hospitals of the Delhi government and one at the health department headquarter, each having a senior IAS officer as its nodal officer, to monitor compliance to hospital admission and treatment protocols and analyse each Covid-19 death
New Delhi
On the direction of chief secretary Vijay Dev, the health department has constituted special 24x7 cells in all 11 hospitals of the Delhi government and one at the health department headquarter, each having a senior IAS officer as its nodal officer, to monitor compliance to hospital admission and treatment protocols and analyse each Covid-19 death.
“In view of the rising number of Covid-19 cases, the competent authority is pleased to constitute 24x7 cells in 11 GNCTD hospitals as well as HQ to ensure that prompt and appropriate systems are in place in each hospital to ensure compliance of timely management of hospital admissions as per protocol, proper treatment protocol, satisfactory level of patient care and analysis of Covid-19 deaths,” said an order issued by the health department on Monday, a copy of which HT has seen.
The order further said, “Each cell will have three members which will work in an eight-hour shift. Each cell will have a nodal officer.”
Standard operating procedure (SOP) annexed with the order require the cells to ensure that each case of Covid-19 death is reported immediately to the death analysis committee with case summary and medical files elaborating the number of days between being tested positive and death, co-morbidities, primary reason for death, and oxygen levels at least six hours before death and immediately before death are recorded.
The SOP mandates the cells to ensure proper recording of time spent by the patient in the hospital before death, condition at the time of hospitalisation, number of days between testing positive and hospitalisation, reasons for delay in admissions, if any, and, whether the death has taken place in ward or ICU and the number of days spent therein, the document said.
A senior health official said the cells have also been entrusted with identifying geographical areas from which more instances of delayed hospital admissions and death on arrival are recorded for “targeted awareness activities” to be undertaken by district magistrates, and monitoring death to admission ration across hospitals on a daily basis.
The order was issued hours after chief secretary Vijay Dev took a review meeting on Covid-19 deaths and hospital management on Monday. Dev issued a four-point instruction to all concerned officials in the meeting which included ensuring every family having a COVID positive cases gets a pulse oximeter and that there is early reporting to hospitals if the oxygen saturation levels (SpO2) of the patient drops below 94.
