Deaths expose critical gaps in Civil Hospital’s emergency care

While the Trauma Centre at the Civil Hospital is the backbone of the critical care facilities being provided at the hospital, the death of three patients on Sunday due to an oxygen supply glitch yet again underscores the need for a revamp of healthcare facilities.

While the the Civil Hospital witnesses a footfall of 1,500 to 1,800 patients a month, its critical care facility – the Trauma Centre – takes in the most serious patients of the hospital.

A perennial staff shortage has persisted ever since it was started though it has been partially addressed recently.

In 2020, the centre hogged limelight due to tussle between nurses and doctors over the shifting of three staff nurses to another ward by an SMO. Angered nurses had blamed doctors after the Health Department had taken a serious note of the high rate of patients abandoning treatment taking leave against medical advice at the centre.

The highlighting of such issues and repeated staff demand has resulted in a relatively smoother flow of medical necessities, medicines and paraphernalia at the hospital. However, staff issues persist. The Sunday incident highlights the need for more staff at the centre.

Currently, a ground floor ward and a first floor ICU unit at the centre are operational. The 20-bedded Trauma Centre has 16 ventilators. All three patients at the centre, who died on Sunday, were intubated (they were on invasive ventilators). Invasive ventilators aide critically ill patients in breathing.

Meanwhile, the seriousness of the staff shortage scenario at the centre can be understood from the fact that a second floor burn ICU is unoperational because there is no staff to run it.

Of the 40 sanctioned posts of staff nurses at the Trauma Centre, 30 posts are vacant. Each shift is managed by two staff nurses as was the case on Sunday. On the same day, an SMO and an anaesthetist were on duty.

However, the staff on ground said more nurses and doctors were needed to monitor the health of patients properly.

The Trauma Centre with 14 sanctioned posts of medical officers (medical officer surgery 6, medical officer anesthesia 3 and medical officer orthopaedic – 5) needs more doctors and support ward staff.

Across the Civil Hospital too, the most critical shortage is in the nursing and medical officer (MO) categories, including specialists for surgeries and other departments. Of the 154 sanctioned posts of MOs at the hospital, only 85 are filled, while 68 (44 per cent) posts lie vacant.

In the wake of Sunday’s incident, a team of experts from Chandigarh conducted detailed equipment checks at the Trauma Ward on Monday, inspecting ventilators, compressors, and alarm systems — which had failed to activate during the low oxygen episode. Work on rewiring at the ward has since begun.

Jalandhar