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Health Care Delivery and Keeping the Workplace Safe in the COVID Pandemic: Results of a Cross-Sectional Survey of Hospitals Delivering Care Under the National Health Insurance Scheme in India
23 Pages Posted: 3 Mar 2022
More...Abstract
Hospital systems in the Covid pandemic are challenged with the dual responsibility of delivering non-Covid and Covid care. To assess the impact of Covid pandemic on hospital services and challenges faced by frontline healthcare workers (HCWs), a cross-sectional web-based national survey was done for hospitals empanelled under the National Health Insurance scheme. 461 hospitals from 20 states and union territories participated in the survey. There was a significant decline in in-hospital procedures and surgeries (77.8%). OPD services were mainly through tele-consultation (52.3%). Most hospitals (57.1%) wanted elective surgeries and procedures to be postponed till the flattening of Covid curve. Others (36.9%) wanted to resume surgeries once protective gear and pre-procedure Covid testing for patients were available. 49.5% hospitals had shortage of staff even in critical care and dialysis units. Of HCWs posted in Covid areas, 61.2% suffered from stress and wanted effective personal protective equipment, regular testing, and, decent quarantine facilities. Respondents suggested hiring of more HCWs to limit viral exposure and allow fixed working hours with proper breaks; regular training to handle the hazardous contagion and update HCWs with latest treatment protocols to instill confidence; and setting up neuropsychiatry helplines/sessions for mental counseling, yoga, and pranayama to ameliorate stress.
Funding Information: This research was funded by Health Technology Assessment (HTA), Department of Health Research (DHR), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India (https://dhr.gov.in/health-technology-assessment-departmenthealth-research-dhr) under the grant number [F.no.t.11011/08/2017-HR(pART1)/8025571]. A basic consent was obtained from all hospitals participating in the survey as a part of the questionnaire itself.
Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Ethics Approval Statement: Ethical review and approval were waived for this study as the study represents data collected about the healthcare delivery from hospital and the challenges faced by its staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as such does not include any identifiable patient information or human clinical data. For the same reason, permission from any ethical committee was not sought prior to the conduct of the study. However, since the study was a pan-India study, we took appropriate permissions from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi.
Keywords: COVID-19, hospital services, elective surgeries, healthcare workers' challenges, needs of healthcare workers
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