The condition of Covid patients at some government hospitals was not being monitored closely and some doctors, including seniors, were not focussing on their treatment, a panel of doctors set up by the government has said in a report.

The team visited hospitals to monitor whether the protocols for the treatment of Covid-19 were being adhered to.

The team came to know that at some hospitals there was no proper system of bedside monitoring of Covid patients, including their oxygen saturation levels.

At a few others, doctors were not attentive enough to find out whether some critical patients required to be “stepped up” for further intensive care or “stepped down” from the existing care system.

“In some cases, since the need for oxygen supply is not closely monitored, medical oxygen is being wasted. There are several cases where the patients could have been released with proper medical advice and the beds could have been utilised for accommodating other patients,” the team has stated in its report submitted to Swasthya Bhavan.

The team comprising 22 doctors from government medical colleges as well as private hospitals visited several hospitals over the past few days - including MR Bangur Hospital, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI) in Rajarhat, College of Medicine and Sagore Dutta Hospital in Kamarhati and the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital.

At Sagore Dutta Hospital, for instance, the team found that senior teachers from most departments, including medicine and pulmonary medicine, were not visiting the Covid patients. It was left to junior doctors to do the rounds and decide on the treatment protocol for all serious patients as their seniors would not visit the wards, the team has observed.

Around 300 Covid patients are being treated at Sagore Dutta Hospital.

At the CNCI, which has around 450 Covid patients, the team found that lack of intensive monitoring of patients was resulting in misuse of medical oxygen. The general consumption of medical oxygen was 10-15 litres per minute, though some patients, who had partly recovered, were requiring much less.

Had the wastage been prevented, the hospital would have been in a better position to treat serious patients who needed around 60 litres of oxygen per minute, the team has observed.

At the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, junior doctors and postgraduate trainees were working in tandem with senior doctors. But that was somewhat lacking at MR Bangur Hospital. The team has observed that a number of patients at the Tollygunge hospital who required to be upgraded for more intensive care were being denied that facility owing to slack monitoring by doctors.

“The report outlines several shortcomings. The misuse of oxygen has to be stopped and its use optimised through more intense monitoring of Covid patients,” said G.K. Dhali, the state's coordinator for management and containment of Covid-19.

“Senior doctors at the CNCI, Sagore Dutta and MR Bangur Hospital need to be more proactive and involved.”