Maharashtra health minister asks doctors to work 7-day rotation in Covid-19 hospitals

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Friday said doctors treating coronavirus patients in designated hospitals should work in rotation- seven days in Covid-19 section and as many days in non-COVID section with one-day holiday in between.

He said doctors should follow this pattern instead of working in Covid-19 sections for seven to 15 days and getting home-quarantined for a week.

Tope said this rotation system would address the issue of shortage of doctors to some extent.

He was addressing a press conference after reviewing the coronavirus situation in Maharashtra’s East Vidarbha. He visited goverment hospitals in Bhandara, Gondia and Nagpur to take stock of the situation.

“Every doctor should work in Covid-19 department, except the senior doctors having comorbidities. They should work in rotation. It has been observed that after working for seven to 15 days in Covid-19 section, doctors go for one week of home quarantine,” he said.

“But doctors in some big private hospitals work in rotation of seven days in COVID section followed by one day holiday and then seven days of work in non-COVID department, followed by a day off,” he said.

“I feel that considering the requirement of doctors now, this system of getting home-quarantined for seven days is inappropriate,” the minister added.

According to him, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) would soon issue a circularabout seven- day duty rotation.

“This will address the issue of scarcity of doctors to some extent,” he said.

Tope stressed the need to increase contact tracing, optimum utilisation of RT-PCR tests and added that home isolation for asymptomatic patients or those with mild symptoms must be encouraged.

Tope also asked the Nagpur administration to increase beds for Covid-19 patients in Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) as well asprivate facilities. He suggested that hospitals operated by the railways and Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) be roped in for treating coronavirus patients.

The minister said that hospitals empanelled under the state government’s ‘Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana’ scheme should allot 25 per cent beds for non-COVID patients.

“There are 20 packages under the scheme available in 32 hospitals in the district. The administration should create awareness among people as some hospitals are misusing this scheme. The administration should also charge five times fine from those hospitals found overcharging,” he added.