• COVID Coordination Committee, formed by AHPI, IMA Hospital Board, CAHO & Nursing Home Forum healthcare bodies, aims to improve synergy between different agencies for ensuring uninterrupted oxygen supply and proper care of COVID patients

Association of Healthcare Providers-India (AHPI), Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO), IMA Hospital Board, and Delhi Nursing Home Forum have formed a COVID Coordination Committee to mitigate the traumatic situation due to the Second Wave and today urged the government to put old roster system in place for oxygen supply, directly from vendors to hospitals and desist individuals hoarding cylinders at home, which are the lifeline for hospitals.

The Committee, an initiative of Som Mittal, past President NASSCOM, represents the entire medical fraternity of Delhi. The Committee emphasized that the single most important medicine for the present COVID strain in the second wave is OXYGEN and given the shortage of resources, there is an urgent need to improve synergy between agencies to minimize fatalities.

Second wave COVID is found to affect the lungs much more, to the extent that the requirement of oxygen is almost 2-3 times as compared to what was consumed during the first wave last year. This has resulted in a shortage of medical oxygen. On one hand, when patients are scrambling for hospital beds, the hospitals and nursing homes are unable to take fresh admission, just because there is no guarantee of oxygen supply. Country in general and Delhi NCR, in particular, is passing through one of the worst phases in respect of suffering by population on account of COVID pandemic.

“After discussion, it was realized that erstwhile system of vendors supplying oxygen was disrupted by reallocation of vendors for different hospitals. This has created big confusion. Vendors are no more supplying to small hospitals and asking them to collect oxygen cylinders from their sites. Hospitals as such are putting their bulk of time in procuring oxygen rather than care of patients. A new trend also has emerged; individuals are rushing to vendors and buying oxygen cylinders to be hoarded at home. So, the action points are; (i) restore the old system of vendor allotment and (ii) stop individuals collecting cylinders from the vendors,” the Committee said in its recommendations to Governments.  

The Committee also observed that governments are issuing various circulars asking for various compliances to the extent where hospitals/ nursing homes are being threatened for closure. “There cannot be the worst timing of issuing such circulars as we have an acute shortage of hospital beds. Authorities are requested to avoid issuing such orders during the current pandemic phase. For example, FIRE NOCs can wait,” it emphasized.  

Recommending the formalization of Home Care services The Committee also emphasized proper utilization of smaller nursing homes for COVID care where there is surplus capacity available and these health centres would only need to ensure that they get uninterrupted oxygen supply.