Referring suspected coronavirus cases to public hospitals: PHC warns private hospitals against violating protocol

LAHORE: The Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) has issued a warning to private sector hospitals across the province against referring suspected and confirmed coronavirus patients to the state-run health facilities without adhering to the protocol.

The PHC acted when some heads of the government teaching hospitals took up a matter with the commission that the private health establishments are not admitting/attending patients visiting there with ‘symptoms of coronavirus.’

They [heads] also complained that the owners of private hospitals were referring suspected patients without taking precautionary measures.

A case of a young girl alarmed the senior health authorities when a famous hospital situated on the Lahore Canal referred her to the Services Hospital on a rickshaw along with her two attendants.

An official privy to the information told Dawn that the girl was a confirmed case of coronavirus and she reached the Services Hospital with uncovered face and arms.

He said she had travelled and spent most of the time with her two attendants and the private hospital refused to admit her following her serious health condition.

Arrived from Afghanistan, he said, the 18-year-old girl spent three hours or so at the Services Hospital.

She was speaking Pashto and visited some wards where she met many doctors, nurses and other staff.

He said a duty doctor immediately alerted the head of the Services Hospital when he suspected her to be a coronavirus patient.

As the doctors isolated her and sent her samples to the lab, the reports confirmed her positive for the coronavirus, he said adding that the hospital immediately deputed a team of doctors to investigate her presence in the hospital and trace the duty staff whom she had met.

The team was directed to get help from the CCTV cameras of the hospital to trace the doctors and employees she had contacted.

The official said Services Hospital Principal Prof Dr Mehmood Ayyaz also brought the matter into the notice of the health department saying that such cases if not taken seriously may cause virus spread.

Similarly, other private infirmaries including one situated at Defence and another on Jail Road also referred the suspected coronavirus patients to the Mayo and Services hospitals.

“We have taken serious notice of the complaints and issued strict warning to the private health establishments for violating the criteria set by the World Health Organization,” PHC Chief Executive Officer Dr Shuaib Khan told Dawn.

He said the commission had decided to take action against the private hospitals under the rules and regulations for not following the WHO standards.

The CEO said he had deputed two additional directors as focal persons to look into the matters regarding the suspected patients visiting both public and private sector hospitals.

“The PHC has also streamlined a referral system in order to shift the suspected coronavirus patients from private health facilities to government hospitals,” he said adding that the Rescue 1122 service had been engaged for transportation of the patients.

Mr Khan said he had written to vice chancellors of all the government medical universities to depute focal persons for a close liaison with the PHC directors to ensure safe and secure handling of the suspected patients of coronavirus.

“We have also formed eight teams of the experts who are visiting the hospitals every day to review the preparedness to treat the coronavirus patients at the private and state-run hospitals,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2020