New Year: Bed crunch stares at Safdarjang’s gynaecology dept

An official circular issued on Wednesday has sent the staff of Safdarjang Hospital’s obstetrics and gynaecology department into a tizzy. Rhythma Kaul reports.

An official circular issued on Wednesday has sent the staff of Safdarjang Hospital’s obstetrics and gynaecology department into a tizzy.

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The circular says the number of beds at the department — which sees about 600 new cases daily and where at times three patients are accommodated on one bed — would be cut by 100 from the New Year.

The department is now finding ways to manage the patient rush.

“We have 308 beds at the moment and even that is not enough to meet the rush. At times, three women share one bed. In fact, we have had for long been asking for more beds,” said a senior doctor from the department, requesting anonymity.

The requirement of the department is huge. About 10 major and 15 minor surgeries are performed every day. Forty deliveries happen in a day, of which 12 are through caesarian-section.

According to the sources, the hospital has decided to reduce the number of beds to meet the Medical Council of India guidelines, wherein a particular number of beds is assigned to the hospital per subject/ department taught in the medical college attached to it.

“These are the MCI guidelines. If we don’t follow them, we might have to close MBBS courses that have less number of beds in the hospital than what the guidelines mention. The gynaecology department had more beds. We had to make a balance,” said Dr NK Mohanty, MS of the hospital.

Admitting that there was a shortage of beds in the hospital, Dr Mohanty said he has an expansion proposal in place to deal with the workload.

“The workload is immense not only in the gynaecology department, but other departments such as paediatrics, surgery, orthopaedics as well. An expansion proposal is with the health ministry,” said Dr Mohanty.