Chandigarh: Despite having a fleet of 65 ventilators donated under the PM CARES fund, Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Chandigarh, continues to face a severe shortage of life-saving equipment. The issue recently came into sharp focus following a TOI report highlighting a patient’s ordeal of being shuttled between PGI and GMCH-32 due to the non-availability of functional ventilators.“All suggestions can be explored. Pooling of ventilators, buying more and upgrading infrastructure wherever required — we will look into it and take care of it,” UT chief secretary H Rajesh Prasad said.While sources maintain that several PM CARES ventilators are functional and contend that authorities should have been more proactive in pursuing timely repairs with manufacturers, the hospital administration presents a different assessment.Prof Ravneet Kaur, director-principal of GMCH-32, said the ventilators supplied under the PM CARES fund were found to be non-functional soon after delivery. “We have been stuck in a cycle of extensive repairs and repeated follow-ups with manufacturing companies to make the machines operational,” she said.“We are in constant touch with the manufacturers to rectify the defects. At the same time, efforts are underway to procure new ventilators. However, procuring high-quality equipment through the GeM portal is time-consuming due to quality concerns,” Prof Ravneet added.Apart from equipment issues, the hospital is also grappling with a shortage of manpower. There is an urgent need for additional senior and junior resident doctors, as well as technical staff, to manage the rising patient load. “The existing staff is severely overworked and is struggling to maintain standard levels of care,” Prof Ravneet said.Officials acknowledged that resolving the technical deadlock with PM CARES manufacturers and expediting recruitment of medical and technical staff are critical to easing the crisis.GMCH received around 65 ventilators under the PM CARES scheme in 2020. After about a year, the hospital claimed that ventilators were put to use efficiently. Apart from these, the hospital has around 40 other ventilators, while demand at any given time ranges between 80 and 100.With the use of PM CARES ventilators, normal beds can be converted into ICU beds. However, these are basic ventilators without humidifiers and require a dedicated power socket and oxygen cylinder.Concerns over ventilator availability had earlier surfaced during a surprise inspection at GMCH three months ago by a member of the Punjab Human Rights Commission. The panel member reportedly found a patient, who had allegedly died, being manually ventilated with an ambu bag as doctors had not yet arrived to declare the patient dead. The then medical superintendent had stated that the department had nine ventilators but lacked a technician to operate them.Experts pointed out that, in the absence of a technician, nursing staff can be trained within a day to operate ventilators.What numbers reveal 65 ventilators | GMCH received under the PM CARES scheme in 2020. According to officials, these were put to use efficiently for about a year. Now, the hospital says these were not used anymore due to defects40 other ventilators | currently functional in the hospitalDemand at any given time ranges between 80 and 100Concerns flaggedConcerns over ventilator availability had earlier surfaced during a surprise inspection at GMCH three months ago by a member of the Punjab Human Rights Commission. The panel member reportedly found a patient, who had allegedly died, being manually ventilated with an ambu bag as doctors had not yet arrived to declare the patient dead. Non-functional lot: DirectorThe ventilators provided under the PM Cares fund were found to be non-functional immediately upon delivery. Consequently, the hospital is currently stuck in a cycle of extensive repairs and constant follow-ups with manufacturing companies to make the machinery operationalProf Ravneet Kaur | director-principal, GMCH-32‘UT to look into it’ All suggestions can be explored. Pooling for ventilators as well as buying more and upgrading of infrastructure wherever required, we will look into it and we will take care of thatUT chief secretary H Rajesh Prasad
