Doctors wrong to not open private clinics ? Or is it gross inadequacy of Covid-19 kits that are to blame ?

Doctors as we all know in Covid-19 times are seen as nothing short of miracle workers, God's own army of saviours working round the clock and delivering service that is not just irreplaceable but also extremely critical to fight the deadly virus. 

Doctors assigned duties at the hospitals, Covid-wards or blocks are worked to exhaustion and are doing their best to fight the virus that has potentially altered the way we live and interact as humans. 

There are however another set of doctors who are equally adept, capable and are liable to the same work ethic, and above all needed by their peers in these times of crisis. 

These private dispensaries and clinics are the local health system arms that could potentially detect early symptoms and advise patients on precautions and also react to a major local breakout even before the hospitals or health systems are overburdened by the number of cases. 

The practitioners as people affected point out, are bound by Hippocratic oath.

The Hippocratic Oath is an oath of ethics historically taken by physicians. It is one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. In its original form, it requires a new physician to swear, by several healing gods, to uphold specific ethical standards.

Hippocratic oath binds all medical practitioners to treat and follow the ethical standards of not turning a deaf ear to a patient, if within acceptable capacity. 

Now a problem we are posed with is when these private clinics and dispensaries are shut and even for minor medical assistance, the hospitals are being crowded by patients. 

These private doctors say they are ill equipped to handle Covid-19 cases, lack of PPE (personal protective equipment),  lack of any test kits to early detect Covid – even for asymptomatic cases are some of the media through which these clinics could function and effectively give that support to the hospitals that is a burning need of the hour, especially with the cases going up every day.

It is a situation where the doctors are not having any means to fight the disease or help the patients that would come to their clinics for treatment or advice.

We could have some sort of direction and also test kits/PPE and detailed notifications from the health ministry to strengthen & leverage the network of clinics + dispensaries and this needs to be done soon, to help these address the situation at hand and decentralise some part of early treatment or educating the patients rather than immediately pressurising the health systems of government and private hospitals.  

It is very easy to point out what is to be done by these private doctors, dispensaries, clinics, the gaps in action & their irresponsible behaviour in these testing times; especially when the bravery of health workers is in front of us as an example; but the needed resources are critical to strengthen this network of clinics & bring them up to speed to tackle the situation in part; and that we are so losing out on now in managing Covid-19 patients.