78% Indians used ‘connections and clout’ to get a Covid ICU bed, finds survey

The LocalCircles survey found that only 4% people were able to secure a bed through the routine process, while another 4% said they didn't get a bed at all.

A Covid-19 patient in an hospital in Ahmedabad (representative image) | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint File photo

New Delhi: As many as 78 per cent Indians had to use “connections and clout” to get a Covid-19 ICU bed, according to a survey released by LocalCircles Monday.

The survey has also found that 92 per cent Indians believe hospitals should mandatorily list real-time availability of ICU beds on their websites and building entrances.

The report had received over 17,000 responses from 65 per cent men and 35 per cent women across 211 districts in the country.

Two questions were asked to the participants — their experiences in securing an ICU bed and whether it should be made mandatory for all hospitals to list real-time availability of ICU beds on their websites and entrances.

Akshay Gupta, general manager at LocalCircles, told ThePrint that the 17,000+ responses came from around 15,000 people. “Some 2,000 participants answered both questions,” he said.

Indian currently is the second most Covid infected country in the world, with a total of over 54 lakh cases. It is also the nation with the most number of Covid-19 recoveries.

‘Only 4% secured beds through routine process’

Of the 78 per cent respondents who said they had to use influence to get an ICU bed, 40 per cent claimed they had to follow up extensively, escalate the issue via social media or complain to the government.

Around 7 per cent said they had to follow up a lot, while another 7 per cent claimed they had to bribe a hospital or government official to secure an ICU bed. Only 4 per cent said they were able to secure a bed through the routine process, while another 4 per cent said they didn’t get a bed at all.

For the first question on people’s experiences in securing an ICU bed, 8,878 responses were tallied. To ensure that right feedback was received, people were requested to make calls to their contacts in case they were unaware themselves about the detailed experience of their contact in getting an ICU bed.

To the second question on whether it should be made mandatory for all hospitals to list ICU bed availability, 92 per cent responded in its favour while 7 per cent voted against it. For this question, 8,953 responses were tallied.

Out of the 17,000+ responses in the survey, 52 per cent were from Tier 1 cities, 26 per cent from Tier 2 and 22 per cent were from Tier 3, 4 and rural districts.