Junior doctors at the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital have demanded resumption of treatment of non-Covid patients at the hospital because many such patients are facing problems in getting treatment at other hospitals.
Doctors at the College Street hospital, now a dedicated Covid-19 treatment centre, said regular follow-up is an important part of treating patients suffering from chronic ailments.
A junior doctor at the hospital said he knew of at least two patients who had died after losing touch with their doctors during the lockdown. One was diagnosed with lung cancer and was supposed to undergo surgery and the other was suffering from a chronic kidney disease.
Hundreds of patients who used to undergo radiotherapy for cancer, were under obstetric care or were being treated for leukaemia, cardiac ailments and tuberculosis are being inconvenienced, said the doctors, explaining the rationale behind the demand for resumption of treatment of non-Covid ailments.
“The government is asking these patients to visit other medical colleges, but all medical colleges were already overburdened when the lockdown was announced. The addition has only stretched their resources and increased the waiting time for patients,” said a doctor.
After receiving several such calls from patients and hearing about their plight, several doctors of Calcutta Medical College approached the authorities with their demand. They also met the director of medical education, Debasish Bhattacharya, at Swasthya Bhavan and conveyed their stand to him.
“We have approached the director of medical education and requested him to allow non-Covid services to resume at our hospital soon. We have handed him a copy of our demand. We cannot let patients with other ailments suffer because of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said one doctor.
“We are yet to hear from the director of medical education.”
Bhattacharya could not be reached for comment.
The Calcutta Medical College and Hospital was converted into a designated Covid hospital in early May. Outpatient departments in the hospital have been shut since May 11.
The junior doctors listed instances to explain how serious the problem is. “A 55-year-old man from North 24-Parganas, who was a stage 1 chronic kidney patient, was being treated at the hospital. He was without medication for about two months as he could not come to our hospital because we were not treating any non-Covid patient. He subsequently died,” said a doctor.
“The patient was on anti-diabetes medicines. Patients like him used to get free supply of insulin from our hospital. There are many poor people who cannot afford to buy insulin.”
Another junior doctor cited the example of patients suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), an autoimmune disease that needs regular medicines to keep a self-destructive antibody suppressed.
Missing medication may affect multiple organs. “SLE patients are given a medicine called mycophenolate, which costs Rs 3,000 in the market. They get it for free at our hospital. We have a pool of about 200 SLE patients in our hospital, who come to our OPD for treatment. Besides, we used to get about 20 new patients every month. All of them are in trouble now,” said one junior doctor.