Positive prescription

Hospitals have learnt from the pandemic and have started implementing new policies which could redefine the Indian health care sector

- POOJA BIRAIA JAISWAL

Over the past two years, two significant aspects which led to a “paradigm shift” at the Fortis Healthcare, Bengaluru, have been “technology adoption and hand hygiene,” says the hospital’s vice president Manish Mattoo. “Doctors who used technology were just 5 per cent before the pandemic, whereas that number is 70 to 80 per cent now. Video consultations have gone up from 10 per cent to 35 per cent. At the same time, the Covid infection rate in our hospitals has been zero for six straight months.”

At Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital, CEO Santosh Shetty recalls how the tough times of Covid-19 reinforced the culture of empathy among his clinical staff. “I will not forget the case of a 70-yearold mother and her 30-something daughter who were both infected,” says Shetty. “They did not have any relatives. Our staff took the daughter from the ward to the ICU so that she could spend some time with her mother. The mother passed away a few days later. It was a touching moment and the staff learnt lessons in empathy like never before.”

In the face of the unprecedented health care crisis caused by Covid-19, hospitals across India faced multiple challenges of access, safety, supply chain logistics and financial stress. It resulted in huge patient loads and fatalities, heavy financial losses and a sharp decline in revenues. Elective procedures were cancelled or postponed to prioritise hospital capacity, while patients limited hospital visits because of concerns about potential exposure to infections. Many of them died from the lack of care for non-Covid diseases. There were layoffs, furloughs and salary cuts to contain costs and maintain financial viability. The second wave led to an even bigger mayhem.