The Bengal government is set to introduce a centralised system where a team of 25 doctors will monitor health parameters of critical Covid-19 patients across the state round the clock following realisation that 60 per cent of deaths occur in wee hours when patients remain unattended.

The Critical Covid Patient Management System that will operate out of Swasthya Bhavan has been designed to reduce the number of coronavirus-related deaths at government and private hospitals.

“It has been found that more than 60 per cent of total Covid deaths are being reported in the wee hours. It was also noticed that patients remained unattended during that time. We just want to assist the hospitals so that the death rate could be brought down,” said a bureaucrat.

The method in which the new system would operate is simple, said the source.

According to him, a team of 25 doctors would monitor health parameters of all critical patients admitted to the healthcare establishments round the clock from Swasthya Bhavan and they would send necessary instructions to the respective hospitals on the next course of action in case a patient’s health parameters turn out to be critical.

“There are about 1,200 to 1,400 patients at government and private healthcare establishments on a given day and they require round-the-clock monitoring. It is found that the monitoring is not being done properly particularly in the wee hours. The Swasthya Bhavan will now monitor all the patients round the clock,” said a senior government official.

Under the new system, the hospitals would be given a tab for each Covid ward. The nurses or the paramedical staff would have to key in details of health parameters of all critical patients at a regular interval through a software developed by the state government.

The doctors sitting at Swasthya Bhavan would be able to know the health parameters like oxygen saturation, pulse rate and temperature or if patients face breathing trouble.

After analysing the parameters, members of the CCPMS would suggest what to do with a patient. “If a patient needs oxygen support, the hospital would be asked to ensure it. If a patient needs to be put on a ventilator, the hospital would be instructed to do so,” said a senior Nabanna official.

The hospitals would be asked to send the input of critical patients with required parameters once in three-four hours. “In case of some patients, who are really vulnerable, the hospitals might be asked to send hourly inputs,” the official said.

The system — which is considered to be the first of its kind in the country — is likely to be launched on August 1.

The government has already engaged 75 doctors to run the system. There will be three shifts every day and in each shift, there will be a team of 25 doctors to analyse the inputs sent from different hospitals and suggest remedial measures.

“We will issue a notification under the Clinical Establishment Act to bring private healthcare establishments under the ambit of the new system. Once the notification is out, the private establishments will have to share health parameters of critical Covid patients with the Swasthya Bhavan,” said an official.

A section of bureaucrats, however, said the new system could demoralise the doctors treating Covid patients at the hospitals. But a senior health department official said the system had been planned to help the doctors in the frontline.