Hyderabad: Faced with a staff shortage and plagued by repeated problems with pressures in oxygen supply lines, which together have been resulting in at least three to four deaths — which doctors describe as avoidable if the management of the hospital was up to scratch — the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (Tims) has effectively shut the door on Covid-19 patients.
A senior hospital official confirmed on Thursday that admissions to the hospital were stopped, “Except in cases of patients with severe symptoms who might need intensive care,” following instructions from the government. No other reason was provided for stopping of the admissions.
Incidentally, even as the admissions were stopped, the state health department’s bed availability status website recorded at 4.30 pm on Thursday, show that as on 8 am, all 137 ICU beds at TIms occupied, while 425 of its 843 oxygen beds were available, as were 207 ordinary beds out of 281.
It may be recalled that Tims lacks adequate staff, be it doctors, nurses, or patient care attenders, and that has been hampering services to patients, as reported by Deccan Chronicle on May 12 in the report ‘1 doc, 1 nurse, I patient care staff run Tims ICUs’. The hospital has also been facing repeated technical glitches in oxygen supply that has seen pressures drop for patients in ICUs on ventilators, that contributed to several of them losing their lives prematurely.
