In a big push for decentralisation, BBMP Commissioner Gaurav Gupta, on May 11, passed an official order issuing guidelines for triaging at the constituency level in Bengaluru city.
With this, COVID-19 patients needing hospital or medical intervention can visit their constituency triage centre as walk-in patients, without having to call the 1912 or 108 call centres.
Upon observation, doctors in these triage centres will transfer the patients to the required medical facility as deemed needed. The points in the order are:
>There shall be a triage centre in all the MLA constituencies of Bengaluru.
>The triage centres shall have a set of doctors in three shifts that is 24/7.
>The triage centres shall have all the medical equipment and medication required.
>The doctors in the triage centre shall be in touch with the physicians attached to them, in case they need any expert advice.
>The doctors in the triage centre shall assess the condition of the patient and based on their condition admit them to the Covid Care Centre (CCC) or refer them to a higher medical facility.
>The triage centers shall be a walk-in facility, wherein any patient can come in and get themselves checked and based on the advice given by the doctors, he/she shall be moved to the attached CCC or hospital as the case may be.
>There shall also be a triage centre at all the CCCs, in case of any patient walk-in, he/she shall not be refused, but triaged and then either admitted or shifted to the higher medical facility.
>There shall be a sufficient number of ambulances in the triage centre and also at the CCCs to shift the patients in case of emergency.
>Each triage center shall be attached to an exclusive referral hospital/medical college/private hospital as shown in the columns below:
On the same day, the BBMP said that all hospitals within their limits, including the ones with 20-30 beds and over 100 beds, should be inspected and 50% of the beds must be handed over to the Karnataka government. The government quota is 75% for private medical colleges. In case the beds are not provided, the authorities must take legal action under the Disaster Management Act, it was said.