Ahmedabad/Surat/Rajkot/Vadodara: In the past few days more than 10,000 corona cases were reported regularly in Gujarat. Many hospitals were facing a scarcity of oxygen and beds. People were completely unaware that in which hospital they would get treatment. In this situation, the government took the help of a digital platform and many hospitals established a communication window for patients and their relatives in distress with helpline numbers. ETV Bharat did a reality check on these helplines of hospitals in Major cities and tried to find out how this entire system works.
Web page is not available in Surat
The covid situation in Surat became out of control in the past few days and the Surat Corporation came up with an application. The corporation said that with the help of digital platform we can fight against corona with more potential. From this App, people will get information about hospitals and will also be able to find their helpline numbers.
When ETV Bharat tried to reach hospitals with this application, we found very shocking results. When we tried to reach 4 private hospitals from this platform, we got a message that the web page is not available. After this unsuccessful attempt, we moved towards the Government hospitals. In Surat Government hospital a total of 1518 beds are available for the covid patients and from these 428 beds were empty. We tried to enrol at New Civil Hospital but the same message popped up that the web page is not available. After seeing this situation we tried to speak to Pradip Umarigar, Health Officer of Surat corporation. He said that we were facing this issue because of technical errors and ensured that he will talk to his team.
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No Response on the Helpline
The financial capital of Gujarat, Ahmedabad city, is facing tough situations because of coronavirus. Government is worried about the third wave of the virus. Ahmedabad municipal corporation has announced that 1,500 beds are available for covid patients but the situation for patients is different. When ETV Bharat's correspondent called to Government hospital no one picked any of our calls. He tried to get numbers from the hospital's website but again no one answered. We tried another number from AMC's portal but again no one responded. The same behaviour was observed in private hospitals. When ETV Bharat raised this question with Mayor Kirit Parmar, he said that he will talk to responsible officers and will give necessary orders.
Helpline gave helpless answers
Local administration of Rajkot had announced a helpline number for covid patients. ETV Bharat did a reality check with these helplines. When we asked the civil hospital whether we will get a bed for a covid patient, they said once you are admitted into the hospital you will get a bed according to your condition. When we tried to speak with a famous private hospital in the city, the call remained unanswered. Another private hospital told that after having word with the doctor we can confirm about the bed but till the end of the day they didn't give any answer.
ETV Bharat informed the Deputy Collector of Rajkot that private hospitals are not responding properly. He advised us to call on another helpline number. People of Rajkot are suffering, so ETV Bharat approached MLA Govind Patel. His PA told us that the MLA was not present at the office and asked us to call after some time. After a few hours the MLA responded that patients are choosing private hospitals over government hospitals, so there will be no room in these hospitals and they didn't answer but in the past two days the situation in Rajkot is better.
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Hospitals of Vadodara gave satisfactory answers
All beds are full in government and private hospitals of Vadodara. ETV Bharat checks with helpline numbers of both government and private hospitals. It was found that all the numbers were working and they provided all the information regarding normal, oxygen and ventilator beds. Information of treatment was also responded with satisfactory answers.
