"I request the hospitals not to raise unnecessary alarms on lack of oxygen," Manish Sisodia (File)
Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted today that many of the smaller, private hospitals have been raising an alarm even when they have considerable stock of oxygen --- a situation that is contributing to load of the overstretched healthcare system. It is also adding to the anxiety of the relatives of the patients, he said.
In a series of tweets, Mr Sisodia said he had got a call from a hospital that had 72 hours' oxygen supply left. Another hospital had contacted the government after consuming one-third of its stocks.
"This morning I got an Oxygen SOS call from a hospital that has 18KL available at the moment, whereas its one day cost is 4.8KL. Its storage capacity is also 21KL. That is, he has about 72 hours of oxygen available."
"Similarly, the news of another small hospital was reported in the media. It was learned that yesterday, he was given 30 cylinders, out of which 20 are left out of it, only 10 have been spent."
"I request the hospitals not to raise unnecessary alarms on lack of oxygen. By doing this, there is a problem in getting help to the needy hospitals," one of his tweets read.
The Delhi government has been battling a dire shortage since the beginning of the week, with one hospital after another desperately seeking help. Big private hospitals like Ganga Ram and Moolchand have been running out of stocks twice or thrice a day whenever tankers from suppliers failed to show up on time.
The matter had reached the High Court, with three private hospitals seeking relief. The Delhi government complained about a no show of tankers from neighbouring states.
The centre has accused Arvind Kejriwal's government of creating a shortage through mismanagement and sensationalising the issue.
On Friday night, 25 people died at the Jaipur Golden Hospital in Delhi due to shortage of medical oxygen, a top official at the hospital said.
Today, Delhi's Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, which has at least 100 patients on oxygen support, said it would not admit any more patients. The hospital got its supply soon after.
Privately-owned Pentamed Hospital was not so lucky. The hospital, which has around 50 patients on oxygen support, had flagged a shortage around 10 am. Its officials said it had received no help from the government and they were managing only because of the patients' families' efforts to keep the supply running.