EWS beds go unoccupied even as the needy suffer
5 March 2015 6:29 AM IST
The hostile behaviour of private hospitals towards needy patients continues even under the new government as the Delhi High Court appointed independent EWS beds monitoring committee has revealed that five private hospitals did not entertain even a single poor patient from January 1 to February 28, this year. Furthermore, 13 out of a total of 44 hospitals had less than five per cent EWS seats occupied during this period.
Shockingly, the report of the five-member committee reveals that not a single patient was referred to by the government hospitals to the private ones. As per directions of the Delhi High Court, every hospital should have a patient welfare officer (PWO) to refer to and follow up the case of EWS patients in private hospitals to ensure their free treatment.
“Initially, the government had hired 56 PWOs on contract but now only 14-15 are left. Their contract was valid till May 2014. The performance of the system is pathetic,” said Ashok Agarwal, member of the EWS beds monitoring committee.
The committee headed by Director Health Services of Delhi government monitored 53 private hospitals in the city for the above period and inspected their records. The report also revealed that four inspected private hospitals — Janki Das Kapur Memorial Hospital, West Delhi; Guru Harkishan Hospital, Rockland Hospital, Dwarka and Vidyasagar Institute of Mental Health, Neuro & Allied Sciences, Nehru Nagar do not maintain the data of EWS patients.
The lowest performing hospital on EWS beds was found to be the MGS Hospital in Punjabi Bagh, which had just 1.48 per cent beds of EWS category filled during this period. The hospital has eight beds reserved for EWS category patients under the quota of 10 per cent mandatory beds for free treatment of the poor. The committee also observed that these hospitals quote frivolous reasons to shoo away poor patients or compel them to pay for extremely costly treatments.
Interestingly, six prominent private hospitals Mool Chand Khairati Ram, Saint Stephens, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science & Research, Rockland Hospital, Qutab, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre and B L Kapur Memorial Hospital have approached the Supreme Court against the directions of the Delhi High Court to reserve their 10 per cent beds for EWS and entertain 25 per cent OPD patients.
Shockingly, the report of the five-member committee reveals that not a single patient was referred to by the government hospitals to the private ones. As per directions of the Delhi High Court, every hospital should have a patient welfare officer (PWO) to refer to and follow up the case of EWS patients in private hospitals to ensure their free treatment.
“Initially, the government had hired 56 PWOs on contract but now only 14-15 are left. Their contract was valid till May 2014. The performance of the system is pathetic,” said Ashok Agarwal, member of the EWS beds monitoring committee.
The committee headed by Director Health Services of Delhi government monitored 53 private hospitals in the city for the above period and inspected their records. The report also revealed that four inspected private hospitals — Janki Das Kapur Memorial Hospital, West Delhi; Guru Harkishan Hospital, Rockland Hospital, Dwarka and Vidyasagar Institute of Mental Health, Neuro & Allied Sciences, Nehru Nagar do not maintain the data of EWS patients.
The lowest performing hospital on EWS beds was found to be the MGS Hospital in Punjabi Bagh, which had just 1.48 per cent beds of EWS category filled during this period. The hospital has eight beds reserved for EWS category patients under the quota of 10 per cent mandatory beds for free treatment of the poor. The committee also observed that these hospitals quote frivolous reasons to shoo away poor patients or compel them to pay for extremely costly treatments.
Interestingly, six prominent private hospitals Mool Chand Khairati Ram, Saint Stephens, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science & Research, Rockland Hospital, Qutab, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre and B L Kapur Memorial Hospital have approached the Supreme Court against the directions of the Delhi High Court to reserve their 10 per cent beds for EWS and entertain 25 per cent OPD patients.
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