Soon, an app to alert availability of Covid beds across hospitals

Soon, an app to alert availability of Covid beds across hospitals

Komal.Gautham@timesgroup.com

Chennai:07.06.2020

To ensure smooth hospitalisation and treatment, the Greater Chennai Corporation is working on a mobile application that will provide data on bed vacancy, Covid care centres for patients and officials. After reports of some patients being turned away from Covid care centres and a few private hospitals, TN chief secretary K Shanmugham put this initiative in the works.

A Covid-19 positive patient with recent miscarriage was rejectedby many privatehospitals due to non-availability of beds, before getting admission into a privatehospital atVanagaram. In another case, an infected patient who had undergone bypass surgery earlier could not find beds in government hospitals in the city and had to wait for 24 hours before being admitted into Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, said Jayaram Venkatesan of Arappor Iyakkam.

On Saturday, a document with details on the available beds was circulated along with contact numbersof doctors.As per data from thehealthdepartment, 17,433 beds were available across government and private hospitals and covid care and healthcare centres as on June 6. Eight government hospitals and four private hospitals and colleges have been converted into Covid health centres with 2,560 beds. At least 17 colleges and other institutions have been converted into covid care centres with 5,372 beds.

A corporation official said the instruction is to create at least 10,000 beds available in variouscovidcarecentres. “We are identifying various schools, halls and institutions and are purchasing beds as well,” said the official. Regarding the application, the official said each zonal official was filling the information on bed occupancy and availability. “We will allocate beds and centres only through the application onceitis ready,” said an official. “The app is almost ready.There are some issues that we are resolving,” said G Prakash, Greater Chennai corporation commissioner.

On Friday, health minister C Vijayabaskar said the information on the number of available beds and cost of treatment will be available on the website on a real-time basis for people to make informed choices. Treatment at government hospitals is free, he said. “This is being made available so that people don’t have to run from pillar to post. As several cases of Covid positive patients being turned awayduetounavailability of beds is being reported, we wanted to make this information public,” he said.

Jayaram Venkatesan said to avoid confusion, total occupancy rateshouldbe provideda part from oxygen and ICU beds and ventilator detailsshould also be made available, he said.