Elective surgeries being postponed due to Corona virus at major hospitals

New Delhi 18th March 2020: Several major hospitals in the national capital, as well as some in other parts of the country, have decided to cancel elective surgeries and reduce OPD (out patients’) timings to ensure there is no community transmission, and doctors can instead focus on the corona virus outbreak.

• The Safdarjung Hospital administration, in an order, said, “In view of the outbreak of corona virus in the country, it has been decided to cancel all elective surgeries in the hospital with immediate effect and until further orders.”
• An official order from Randeep Guleria , AIIMS director sent an advisory to the patients through SMS on their registered cell phone number, “In view of the increasing threat of corona virus infection, you are requested to postpone your appointment at AIIMS if it is not urgent in nature. This is for your safety and good health,”
• In addition to this a meeting chaired by Chief secretary and special chief secretary, heath, medical, and family welfare, Government of Telangana on March 16, 2020  said “All the elective surgeries in teaching and specialty hospitals under the control of DME will be postponed from 18^th March till 25^th March, 2020.

On the Govt.’s directive to defer elective surgeries to let doctors focus on corona cases Dr. Vaibhav Kapoor, Co-Founder, Pristyn Care, said” Pristyn Care absolutely welcomes the Government’s decision to postpone elective surgeries at all Government hospitals to create adequate capacity, of both infrastructure and medical personnel, to treat severe corona virus cases. We must learn from the surge of corona virus cases in other affected countries and keep our resources amply ready to deal with it. Social distancing, including advising patients to postpone their elective surgeries, is a must to flatten this exponential growth curve and save India from a situation that countries like Italy, South Korea, Iran, etc. have witnessed.”

Dr. Vaibhav Kapoor ,further added Still, among the patients suffering from diseases that require elective surgeries, there will be many with severe symptoms who would not be able to postpone their treatment for very long, creating a semi-emergency situation. At Pristyn Care, where we specialise in elective surgeries with over 100 senior surgeons on board and partnerships with over 250 hospitals pan-India, we welcome these patients and are happy to treat them using minimally invasive surgical techniques at cost rates so that they do not incur any additional financial burden of getting treatment done outside Government hospitals. This is our small contribution in times of need by helping the Government take off the burden of elective surgeries and still ensuring that patients in semi-emergency situations are not left in pain.”

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