Amid rising covid cases in the country, and after witnessed deadly covid waves, the whole country is frightened and is also preparing to fight in case of spike of cases and another wave.

According to Health and Family Welfare department data it has been revealed that about 1 in 4 operation theatres across all Delhi government hospitals are non-functional.

There are a total of 235 operation theatres across these hospitals, out of which 62 are not functional. The data was provided by the health department in reply to a question posed by BJP MLA Om Prakash Sharma during the recent two-day Winter Assembly session, as reported by IndianExpress.

According to a senior Delhi government official, one of the major reasons for non-functional OTs is the lack of 'manpower'. 'Hospitals are managing with 50% manpower. Moreover, during Covid, the government proposed to construct more hospitals. While beds have been doubled, major things are lacking including manpower, proper space for doctors, nurses or technicians to sit…,' said the official.

'Several hospitals have OTs but no staff like OT specialists and anaesthetists. A team of 6-10 people is required to conduct a surgery and due to lack of manpower, patients from such hospitals are referred to big ones like GTB… While these hospitals have functional OTs, the waiting time is higher due to which patients also face problems,' the official added.

To address the issue, the department has decided to form a committee to map manpower available for surgical procedures (especially to ensure round-the-clock OB&G and emergency procedures) in all government hospitals vis-à-vis infrastructure available and make a list of doctors along with their performance and the number of procedures they have conducted.

The committee comprises six people: Dr Suresh Kumar, Lok Nayak Hospital Medical Director (MD); Dr Ashmitta Rathore, GTB Hospital MD; Dr Manisha Aggarwal, HOD (Anaesthesia); Dr Monika Rana, Advisor, CDMO (South District), DGHS; Dr IP Singh, Specialist (Surgery) LBSH; and Vineet Saxena, System Analyst, H&FW.

The officer added that once the list is made, a team of doctors, each led by a surgeon, along with a support system for pre-operative and post-operative cases will be made.