Government Wenlock District Hospital Medical Superintendent and District Surgeon D.S. Shivaprakash addresses a press conference, along with District Health Officer H.R. Thimmaiah, in Mangaluru on Friday.
| Photo Credit: ANIL KUMAR SASTRY
The Government Wenlock District Hospital, Mangaluru, has urged the Department of Health and Family Welfare to issue comprehensive guidelines for referring patients under the Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka (AB-ArK) and non-AB-ArK schemes to different district hospitals.Medical Superintendent and District Surgeon D.S. Shivaprakash told reporters here on Friday that the request was made to streamline patient care and maximise the efficiency of existing healthcare resources, in the backdrop of hospitals in Karnataka and Kerala referring critically ill patients to Wenlock Hospital without confirming the availability of intensive care unit (ICU) beds. This has strained the hospital’s ICU capacity, he said.From across Karnataka, KeralaDr. Shivaprakash said, “Our hospital receives a large number of referrals from across the State and neighbouring regions, making ICU bed availability a major challenge. The hospital has 116 ICU beds, including 21 medical ICU and 27 surgical ICU beds. Many district hospitals refer critically ill patients without checking ICU bed availability here. Despite repeated communications from District Health Officers and the hospital administration to all District Health Officers and District Hospital Superintendents, several hospitals continue to refer patients without prior coordination. Referring patients without prior confirmation will result in difficulties in accommodating emergency cases.”Following this, the hospital has proposed a 10-point standard operating procedure (SOP) in its letter to the Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare. He said referrals should be made only in genuine emergency cases, and referral data should be submitted to the respective district health officers for effective monitoring. “Preference should be given to treatment in the home district whenever possible,” he said, cautioning against the risk involved in transporting critically ill patients.Additional ICU bedsMeanwhile, the hospital has requested the government to sanction 50 additional ICU beds and staff commensurate with the increase. To a query, Dr. Shivaprakash said the hospital was considering introducing an online system displaying real-time ICU bed availability. “This will help hospitals check ICU bed availability before transferring patients to our hospital,” he said.District Health Officer H.R. Thimmaiah warned private hospitals empanelled under the AB-ArK scheme not to collect treatment charges from referred patients, as the government reimburses the expenses. Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader is likely to convene a state-level meeting soon to review the implementation of the AB-ArK scheme, he said. Published - July 10, 2026 09:21 pm IST
