Bommanahalli zone leading by example in Covid handling

Bengaluru: The Bommanahalli zone is setting an example for the rest of the zones to follow in handling the pandemic. The zone has a hospital management system where the volunteers take care of the patient from admission till discharge.

Under Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST), a patient admitted to a private hospital under the government quota, need not pay bills but there have been instances where the private hospitals have charged the patients.

"In such cases, the concern is raised with the billing and grievance team. We, in turn, communicate with the family members and the hospital authorities to sort it out the issue. With respect to the food and bed allotment or other issues with facilities in the hospital, the grievance team will take care of it," said, a volunteer with the hospital management team.

She further said that under the mortality management team, the family of the deceased is assisted for cremation. "We assist the family members if they want to carry the Covid victim's body for cremation to their native place," the volunteer said.

A moderately symptomatic Covid patient in the hospital is helped to talk to their family members through a video call. Since the family members cannot visit the Covid ward, the family will be apprised about the patient's health condition through a video call.

In one case, when the patient's name was misspelled in the marriage records, the hospital was not ready to accept clear the bills. A volunteer associated with the hospital management team of the zone approached the hospital and rectified the issue.