Many patients with moderate Covid symptoms are using political connections to keep ventilator-supported beds reserved in the new trauma centre at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), thereby denying necessary medical attention to more needy, doctors at the state-run hospital said on Saturday.

“We have around 100 beds for Covid patients with severe symptoms and at least 20 such beds are occupied by affluent patients who do not need intensive care anymore,” said a RIMS doctor who also holds a senior administrative position in the hospital. “They (patients) refuse to move to normal beds with oxygen support even though they do not require ventilators. Such patients often use political connections to ensure that they are not moved out of the ICU,” he added, requesting anonymity.

Amid the acute crisis of dedicated Covid beds and an unprecedented rise in the number of cases in Ranchi, this trend of reserving beds with ventilators is adding to the ordeals of patients who do not have influence, say doctors.

Another RIMS doctor took to social media on Friday to give a subtle hint of how political connections were gradually becoming important in getting treated for Covid-19 symptoms in government hospitals. “If you want to survive this pandemic, then you should build political connections, not immunity,” he updated as his status on WhatsApp.

Dr Ajit Kumar, who was on duty at the Covid ward in Sadar Hospital through Friday night till Saturday, said at least seven oxygen supported beds were occupied by patients who did not need oxygen support.

“Their oxygen masks were kept aside and they were sleeping peacefully without any oxygen support. I had to force them to leave the beds as many patients in dire need of oxygen support were waiting in ambulances outside the hospital at that time,” said Dr Kumar, who is also be the joint secretary of Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) Ranchi chapter.

Kumar said that panic hospitalization and panic hoarding of oxygen and remdesivir injections were making the situation worse in the state capital as many needy patients were unable to get treatment on time due to this practice.

In an order issued on Thursday, the health department directed that all medical colleges (other than RIMS) in Jharkhand would directly function under the supervision of the concerned deputy commissioner until further notice. The decision was taken in the wake of the Covid-19 situation in Jharkhand.

As per government data, there are around 3000 dedicated Covid beds available in Ranchi for the over 14,000 patients. Recently, the government asked all private hospitals to reserve 50 per cent of their beds for Covid patients. However, the shortage of beds still continues to haunt patients in the state capital.