Hundreds of ICU beds earmarked for dedicated Covid-19 hospitals are lying idle at the Central Medical Stores Depot (CMSD) as the authorities concerned are yet to place orders for them, according to CMSD sources.
Meanwhile, dedicated Covid-19 hospitals are suffering from a shortage of ICU beds amid a surge of Covid-19 cases from the beginning of winter.
Eminent virologist Dr Nazrul Islam, who is one of the members of the National Advisory Technical Committee (NATC) on Covid-19, on several occasions over the last month told Dhaka Tribune the demand for ICUs and oxygen would increase in winter. He also stressed the need to take preparations early, as the installation of ICU beds was a time-consuming task.
However, a lack of coordination between the relevant authorities appears to have delayed the entire process.
According to the Director General of Health Services (DGHS), only 13 out of 117 ICU beds at the 10 dedicated Covid-19 hospitals in Dhaka were available as of Monday morning. In Chittagong, 8 out of 25 ICU beds were occupied.
An official of the DGHS said they had observed that many patients were being refused at government hospitals due to lack of available ICU beds. However, hundreds of ICU beds purchased in July were yet to be distributed and were still in storage at CMSD.
Asking to remain anonymous, CMSD sources said the ICU beds had been acquired for dedicated Covid-19 hospitals. After a new team transferred to CMSD around late May and June, the DGHS conducted its first survey and placed orders for nearly a hundred ICU beds that had already been distributed.
The second survey has just been completed and about 200 more beds will be required. The disbursement would be made official soon, the sources added.
When contacted, CMSD Director Abu Hena Morshed Zaman said they want to distribute the ICU beds as soon as possible, but they cannot do so without following the proper procedure.
“We have a good number of ICU beds we are ready to provide, but we cannot supply them without demand orders from the authorities concerned,” he added.
According to CMSD, it has already distributed 226 ICU beds and around 200 more are available in stock. The beds will be distributed once the specifics of where they are needed are determined through the second survey.
CMSD also has 187 ventilators, 8,980 oxygen cylinders, 863 oxygen concentrators, 417 high-flow nasal cannula and 200 nebulizer masks.
“Supply is not the issue. The issue is whether the hospitals have all the facilities needed to use the beds properly and install them immediately,” the CMSD director said.
A source at CMSD said the new team needed about a month to finalize the distribution list after the first survey, and the 100 ICU beds demanded were supplied in a couple of more months.
“The second survey has just been completed, so it should be finalized and the beds will be supplied soon,” the source added, mentioning that CMSD was being cautious after an incident where a government hospital had to keep supplied ICU beds in the general ward due to a lack of space.
Additional Director General (Administration) Prof Dr Nasima Sultana echoed the importance of completing preparations before distributing the ICU beds.
She said: “When we are talking about installing ICU facilities, we need twice the space of a general unit. Reforming the facilities is not easy, so it takes time. Besides, the hospital authorities need to ensure proper manpower as well.”
When asked about the placing of demand orders for the ICU beds, she said the DGHS had already issued instructions on expanding ICU facilities as soon as possible, but she was not aware about placing demand orders as the hospitals had directly placed their demands.
DGHS Director (Hospital) Farid Uddin Miah could not be reached for comment as he was out of Dhaka on official work.
‘Enough preparations for upcoming Covid fight’
CMSD Director Abu Hena Morshed Zaman said the authorities had taken enough preparations to provide Covid-19 treatment at government hospitals for the next few months.
“We have stored PPE for the next five months and face masks for one year,” he said, adding that CMSD had ensured a continuous supply management for treatment.
According to CMSD, it has 5,334,000 face masks, including 4,058,000 surgical masks.
