Anxious doctors suffering from sleep disorder

Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 5

With hospitals overwhelmed with the incessant flow of Covid patients and mortuaries running out of space, the health staff, especially the doctors, are under extreme stress. Overworked and burnt out, they are hounded with the fear of being infected and carrying the virus home to their families. Also, the lack of medical supplies, especially the shortage of oxygen, has left them vulnerable with anxious relatives of patients often blaming them for the sorry state of affairs.

“The large number of fatalities every day is triggering anxiety and sleep disorder among the doctors. They are using excessive ‘substances’ to deal with the growing pressure,” explained Dr MP Sharma, a psychiatrist at the Civil Hospital, Panchkula.

A “burnout helpline” started for the healthcare workers has received 15 calls in the past two days. Counsellors say the doctors carry with them the guilt of being unable to help the patients and for having to refuse them admission. Distressed over the deaths of patients who might have been saved, most of them are suffering from insomnia.

The Health Department has now asked all district hospitals to set up a helpline for their staff. Explaining the burden on the doctors, Dr Rajiv Kapoor, a radiologist, says they have been performing CT scans in two shifts. “We carry out 40-45 CT scans on Covid or suspected Covid patients every day. This is in addition to the routine scans. A technician uses a portable machine for x-ray tests in the Covid wards,” he adds.

The story at the PGIMS-Rohtak, is no different. Dr Sujata Sethi of the Psychiatric Department, says: “Grappling with limited resources and watching the patients die is taking a toll on the mental health of the doctors. They are living in constant fear of death. They see their colleagues getting infected, are short of hands and are overworked.”

Dr BK Nehra, Civil Hospital, Faridabad, says what is worrying the doctors most is that with the resource crunch likely to worsen in the coming days, their personal safety may be at risk with harried attendants of patients venting their anger on the staff.