As doctors resume duty post Covid, hospitals in Kolkata start planned surgeries – ET HealthWorld

KOLKATA: With Covid-affected surgeons and physicians trickling back to work after serving their home-isolation period, non-Covid treatment and surgeries have started climbing up across Kolkata’s hospitals. Even though less than half of the usual number of surgeries are being carried out at most hospitals on an average, doctors and experts expect it to rise over the next two weeks as the spate of transmission slows and the number of healthcare workers in home isolation decreases.

At SSKM Hospital, around 400 major surgeries are being conducted every day after a temporary slide prompted by several surgeons, physicians and patients testing positive. Most doctors have since returned, and surgeries have reached the near-normal mark. “We struggled till January 10, but there has been a steady revival since. The number of outdoor patients, however, remains low,” said IPGMER professor Diptendra Sarkar.

Non-Covid treatment and surgeries are fast approaching the pre-third wave numbers at Kolkata’s government hospitals, according to Rajya Sabha MP and medic Shantanu Sen. “There had been a drop in the number of patients and surgeries due to the sudden surge in transmission. But with the first group of affected healthcare workers returning and fewer getting infected subsequently, operations have returned to near-normal numbers,” he said.

Private hospitals, too, have seen a revival of activity at the operation theatres and non-Covid wards. At Peerless Hospital, number of surgeries have gone up to almost 40% of normal. “Most of our surgeons and consultants are back. We have around 120 non-Covid patients admitted but people are still wary of infection. So, the number of surgeries and non-Covid treatment remain low. We expect both to reach 80% of the normal mark in the next two weeks since positivity rate has started sliding across labs,” said CEO Sudipta Mitra.

Woodlands Hospital has decided to go ahead with surgeries on Covid patients. “We are not postponing planned surgeries due to patients’ Covid status and have established our own protocol on safe surgeries, similar to other infectious diseases,” said CEO Rupali Basu.

At Medica Superspecialty Hospital, surgeries have gone up to 20 a day from around 12 last week. “Almost all our doctors who had been infected have returned. Elective and emergency surgeries are fast approaching the normal mark. Unless we see another surge, non-Covid treatment should normalize by next week,” said chairperson Alok Roy.

Non-Covid treatment and surgeries have risen marginally at CMRI Hospital. “This is an encouraging trend,” said director of pulmonology Raja Dhar.

Surgeries had come to a near-halt at Charnock Hospital last week with more than 30 healthcare workers testing positive. Surgeries have now crawled up to around 30% of the normal mark. “Operations have resumed and most of our doctors and surgeons are now back,” said MD Prashant Sharma.

AMRI Hospitals, however, are yet to see a revival in the number of non-Covid patients and surgeries. The hospital conducts around 50 surgeries across three units, which dipped to less than 10 during the first week of January. “It has picked up marginally, but a large number of patients reporting for elective and emergency surgeries are testing positive, forcing procedures to be deferred,” said CEO Rupak Barua.

A state health official said one reason behind the quick return to normalcy at government hospitals was the practice of doctors working for seven days and then taking a break for a week. “This is an unofficial arrangement that has shielded doctors from infection,” said the official.