We need to monitor efficiency of govt hospitals: Dr Devi Shetty

We have a shortage of nurses and physicians who are burning out at an alarming rate post-Covid Dr. Devi Shetty, Founder of Narayana Health

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The final day of the Global Investor Meet at Palace Grounds featured talks on ‘How Can India Lead the Innovation Revolution and how India is Becoming the Epicentre of a Global Supply Chain Shift.’

Achievers from the state were felicitated, and a discussion was held on the post-pandemic shift that featured Dr. Devi Shetty, Founder of Narayana Health, and Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist of the WHO in a panel moderated by veteran journalist Shekhar Gupta.

Speaking at the event, Devi Shetty shed light on the lack of infrastructure in government hospitals. “We need to monitor the efficiency of government hospitals. They need to keep track of how many surgeries happen every day and build diagnostic labs accordingly. We have a shortage of nurses and physicians who are burning out at an alarming rate post-Covid,” he said.

He also spoke of the mental health toll the pandemic took, saying, “A lot of people, when they were first diagnosed, chose to end their lives and we had to communicate to them that this is a disease that has a cure.”

He added that his hospital had hired cricketer Robin Uthappa as the brand ambassador for mental health since he had faced these challenges in the past. One of the members of the audience asked Dr. Swaminathan whether precautions were still required with Covid since nobody in the auditorium was wearing masks despite being asked to carry them, she said: “We are still in a dynamic situation with Omicron mutating, and there isn’t enough uptake of boosters, so it is better to take precautions because Covid is not like the cold and hurts other organs too.”