India
Cell to keep tabs on Delhi's private hospitals
By IANS
Feb 12, 2006, 18:40

In the wake of the Delhi High Court's ruling that private hospitals should provide free treatment to the poor, the Delhi government has set up a cell to closely monitor the working of these hospitals.

The cell will strengthen the public healthcare system ensuring that the needy segments of society actually benefit from the court's order made Tuesday that covers hospitals built on land provided by the government at concessional rates.

"We have set up a cell where patients who are denied free medical help by private hospitals will be able to register complaints," said Anil Mehra, director of health and family welfare in the Delhi government.

The government has appointed five members to the cell, which will start functioning by Feb 20.

Advertisements will be issued in leading Hindi newspapers so that people with a monthly income of less than Rs.2,000 become aware that they are entitled to free healthcare under the court's directive.

Mehra said there were 70 private hospitals in Delhi that were allotted land at concessional rates on the assurance that they would provide free medical treatment to the poor.

But complaints had poured in from the poor that they had been denied treatment in some of these hospitals.

"We plan to take action against some private hospitals which have denied treatment to patients," he said, adding that the members of the cell will visit hospitals to check records to ascertain how many poor patients were treated.

The 70 hospitals will also have to devote 10-25 percent of their total beds free of cost to poor patients, Mehra said. "The percentage depends on the nature of land concession given to the hospital."

Mehra said private hospitals had, however, denied that poor patients had been turned away.

Ashok Agarwal, a member of the complaint cell, countered this by saying: "I disguised myself and went to a private hospital, but was denied treatment even after several hours.

"We will now impose a fine on the hospital that denied treatment to me," he said, without naming the hospital.

In another instance, a patient suffering from cancer was denied treatment by another hospital. "The patient got in touch with us and we assured him that a fine will be imposed on the hospital," Agarwal said.

Mehra said contact numbers of the cell would be placed outside the 70 private hospitals so that patients could register a complaint when they were denied treatment.

Letters would also be written to the hospitals reminding them of their agreement with the government.

Meanwhile, private hospitals have said that according to their agreements with the government, they were required to provide only free hospitalisation - which covers beds and advice from doctors - to the patients.

Other expenses on medicines and tests would have to be borne by the patients.

"Sometimes patients think free treatment means they will get all facilities free of cost," said an official at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital.

Hospital officials also said patients would have to first furnish a certificate from Delhi's health ministry stating that they were eligible for free treatment.



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