Critical non-Covid patients may suffer if 80% ICU beds are blocked: Delhi private hospitals

New Delhi: Top 33 private hospitals in Delhi are working to abide by the order reserving 80% of intensive care unit (ICU) beds for Covid patients. But they aren’t happy, according to a lobby group that represents them. The move will discourage non-Covid patients from seeking treatment at some of the capital’s top specialist hospitals, it said. This follows the Delhi High Court lifting a stay Thursday on a state government order directing such quotas.

“Blocking of 80% of ICU beds for Covid in quaternity care hospitals will have adverse impact on non-Covid patients needing liver/kidney transplant, heart transplant, bone marrow transplant, neurosurgery, cancer treatment etc,” said Giridhar Gyani, director general of the Association of Healthcare Providers India (AHPI).

The stay had been granted by a division bench of the high court, which decided to lift it in view of the rise in Covid cases in the capital. The order will be in force until November 26.


Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain said this will provide a much-needed respite to patients struggling to find beds. “This will add on 1,000 beds in the capital,” he said.

Private hospitals have begun gearing up after the court decision. “We had 84 beds for Covid patients and have to add 12 more. We are preparing,” said an Indraprastha Apollo Hospital spokesperson.

Hospitals fear a setback after having gradually restarted non-Covid treatments in the past few months.

‘Could have Spared Specialist Centres’
AHPI, representing the 33 hospitals, had challenged the Delhi government directive.

“While we have no problem in reserving beds for Covid patients, our main contention has been about reserving beds in those hospitals which are engaged in quaternity care, including heart bypass, heart transplant, liver and kidney transplant and other complex surgeries,” Gyani said. “Some of these hospitals are known for state-of-the-art facilities (and) attract patients from all over the country. The government could have chosen other hospitals and reserved not only ICU beds, but entire hospitals.”

The AHPI had earlier proposed to the Delhi government that Covid and non-Covid patients not be admitted in the same facility, in line with the Centre’s guidelines.

“By choosing the super-specialist hospitals, government has deprived patients with liver, kidney, heart, neuro, cancer etc. to have treatment in Delhi and these patients will have to travel elsewhere,” Gyani said.

The move will put non-Covid patients in a spot. “Such a decision is harsh punishment for critical non-Covid patients,” Gyani said. “Government could have easily avoided this by leaving some of the super-specialist hospitals and reserved beds in other hospitals. These hospitals being known have become easy target.”

Experts said the government should have engaged with the private sector in order to arrive at an amicable solution. “We could still have got the same number or even more ICU beds for Covid and at the same time saved non-Covid patients with life-threatening ailments,” Gyani said. “The government in the process of hiding its own failure has found an easy way to order reservation in top 33 hospitals.”