From 22nd April to 5th of May, in just two weeks, 2,27,679 people have been affected with COVID-19 in Bengal. This is about one-fourth of the total cases recorded in the state so far.
Consequentially, the number of people admitted to hospitals is growing day by day. During April, the hospitals started wait-listing people for admission. Then the number of beds, both in government and private facilities, was increased. But the number of daily affected has breached the mark of 18 thousand now. Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister, herself has said that the number may surge in the next 15 days. How the government will cope with the situation?
The health officials were mulling a PPP model to deal with the present surge and a probable third wave in the future. As a first step towards it, the state government has decided to give contractual appointments to doctors and nursing staff, initially for two months. A health department circular fixed the compensation package for the specialists as 50,000/-, for the medical officers 40,000/- and the same for the nursing staff has been pegged at 17,220/-.
Altogether, all over Bengal, 93 government hospitals treating covid patients are facing staff crisis. For these hospitals, the government is going to appoint 1,188 doctors including 193 specialists. The total number of nursing stuffs to be appointed contractually has been fixed at 3,428.
At present, Bengal has 20,000 covid beds altogether in government and private hospitals. Mamata Banerjee has announced an addition of 10,000 more beds in the coming days. The doctors working with the government have worked out the number of new appointees keeping this in consideration. Earlier the doctors were working overtime and were being affected with fatigue. That was why a circular was issued to all hospitals to maintain an 8-hour roster.
Though the government is willing to take doctors and nurses from outside, the question is whether it will get an appropriate response. Many private doctors have stopped seeing patients who are having fever. So, not many of them perhaps will be willing to risk their lives for an appointment for two months. Rather, according to a private doctor of Siuri, a district town, it could be worthwhile if the appointment was at least for a year.
(The author Diptendra Raychaudhuri is a senior journalist based in Kolkata. He has a wide range of experience in covering West Bengal politics and has authored several books)