<p>One year after Covid-19 hit the state, the government is yet to streamline the system for admitting patients, forcing many to go to private hospitals and seek treatment at an exorbitant cost.</p>.<p>Delay in hospitalisation was one of the key reasons behind Covid deaths last year, but the government hasn’t learned any lessons at all on this front.</p>.<p>It is still mandatory for all Covid-19 patients to have a district ID number (‘BU number’ in Bengaluru Urban) in order to secure a bed at one of the seven government hospitals accepting Covid-19 patients in the city.</p>.<p>If a patient doesn’t have a BU number, a letter from their District Health Officer (DHO) stating the necessity of admission in Bengaluru has to be presented, a cumbersome rule that proved costly for Sayeed (name changed), who tested positive for Covid-19.</p>.<p>The 58-year-old resident of Ramanagara district sought to get a bed at K C General hospital in Bengaluru, but was turned away because he did not have a letter from the Ramanagara DHO.</p>.<p>“Out of options, he was forced to take a bed in a multispeciality hospital in the city which charged him Rs 1.5 lakh for Covid medical care for a two-day period,” said the patient’s attender.</p>.<p>Several officers of the government hospitals that DH spoke to confirmed that patients without BU numbers cannot be admitted, and that this especially pertains to patients from other<br />districts.</p>.<p>“This requirement was set up to prevent private hospitals from sending Covid-19 patients en-masse to government centres in Bengaluru as it would overwhelm existing bed numbers,” explained Dr Radhakrishna H R, Medical Superintendent of C V Raman Hospital. But one government source termed the requirement outrageous, as it consumes too much time.</p>.<p>“There is no law that says that a Bengaluru hospital bed is only for a resident of Bengaluru. We are all operating under the aegis of the National Disaster Management Act, and that act is applicable across all districts,” the source said.</p>.<p>The source added that Sayeed had sought a bed in the city because there are no doctors on Covid duty during the night hours at Ramnagara’s district hospital. He has since been shifted to Victoria Hospital.</p>.<p>Dr B R Venkateshaiah, the medical superintendent of K C General, confirmed that the hospital was not taking out-of-district patients without the respective DHO’s letter. This letter is subsequently sent to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, which allots the bed.</p>.<p>“Out-of-district patients must have a valid reason for trying to get a bed at a city hospital. If this requirement is not there, we would get many patients from other districts,” Dr Venkateshaiah said.</p>
<p>One year after Covid-19 hit the state, the government is yet to streamline the system for admitting patients, forcing many to go to private hospitals and seek treatment at an exorbitant cost.</p>.<p>Delay in hospitalisation was one of the key reasons behind Covid deaths last year, but the government hasn’t learned any lessons at all on this front.</p>.<p>It is still mandatory for all Covid-19 patients to have a district ID number (‘BU number’ in Bengaluru Urban) in order to secure a bed at one of the seven government hospitals accepting Covid-19 patients in the city.</p>.<p>If a patient doesn’t have a BU number, a letter from their District Health Officer (DHO) stating the necessity of admission in Bengaluru has to be presented, a cumbersome rule that proved costly for Sayeed (name changed), who tested positive for Covid-19.</p>.<p>The 58-year-old resident of Ramanagara district sought to get a bed at K C General hospital in Bengaluru, but was turned away because he did not have a letter from the Ramanagara DHO.</p>.<p>“Out of options, he was forced to take a bed in a multispeciality hospital in the city which charged him Rs 1.5 lakh for Covid medical care for a two-day period,” said the patient’s attender.</p>.<p>Several officers of the government hospitals that DH spoke to confirmed that patients without BU numbers cannot be admitted, and that this especially pertains to patients from other<br />districts.</p>.<p>“This requirement was set up to prevent private hospitals from sending Covid-19 patients en-masse to government centres in Bengaluru as it would overwhelm existing bed numbers,” explained Dr Radhakrishna H R, Medical Superintendent of C V Raman Hospital. But one government source termed the requirement outrageous, as it consumes too much time.</p>.<p>“There is no law that says that a Bengaluru hospital bed is only for a resident of Bengaluru. We are all operating under the aegis of the National Disaster Management Act, and that act is applicable across all districts,” the source said.</p>.<p>The source added that Sayeed had sought a bed in the city because there are no doctors on Covid duty during the night hours at Ramnagara’s district hospital. He has since been shifted to Victoria Hospital.</p>.<p>Dr B R Venkateshaiah, the medical superintendent of K C General, confirmed that the hospital was not taking out-of-district patients without the respective DHO’s letter. This letter is subsequently sent to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, which allots the bed.</p>.<p>“Out-of-district patients must have a valid reason for trying to get a bed at a city hospital. If this requirement is not there, we would get many patients from other districts,” Dr Venkateshaiah said.</p>