No elected govt in Delhi, no treatment for poor!
15 Aug 2014 6:22 AM IST
These hospitals have now made Below Poverty Line (BPL) card, address proof or income certificate compulsory to provide the limited facility they offer for the poor.
‘We used to recommend at 40-50 patients per day in the poor category to these private hospitals for free treatment on the directions of the political executive,’ said Deep Mathur, former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to former health minister A K Walia. ‘If the hospitals didn’t regard the recommendations, we used to follow up the cases and pressurise them to honour it,’ he added.
Besides OSD, Medical Superintendent of Nurshing Home and Patient Welfare Cell (NHPWC) Dr RN Dass used to address such cases at the camp office and minister’s office in the Department of Health Services of Delhi government. In absence of any alternative system, the private hospitals now insist for BPL card or income certificate of less than six months’ old to provide free treatment.
??‘There is no requirement of any document but only a self declaration form in which the patient or his guardian is required to declare that his income is below minimum wages in Delhi i.e. less than Rs 8,554,’ said Ashok Agarwal, eminent lawyer and member of the EWS monitoring committee. ‘These hospitals should provide self declaration forms but they don’t. As per the directions of the Supreme Court, these hospitals should extend free facility to poor patient of any state of the country,’ he added. The absence of any monitoring and inspection in the present system has left the poor patients at the mercy of these hospitals.
During a visit to Fortis Escort hospital in Okhla, this reporter found that the staff posted there insisted on a BPL card. The staff of the EWS OPD of Appollo Hospital in Sarita Vihar also refused to treat patients without BPL cards. Interestingly, Dr Dass who is responsible for inspection of these private hospitals, also insisted for either BPL or income certificate. Furthermore, these hospitals are required to give details of available beds on their website but they don’t. Some of the hospitals have rather discriminatory policies against poor patients.
Apollo Hospital in Sarita Vihar has separate reception and OPD for the poor and they would be attended by experts only on recommendation of junior doctors. BL Kapoor Hospital had a separate entry gate for poor patients. Now they have completely shut down the facility.
‘We used to recommend at 40-50 patients per day in the poor category to these private hospitals for free treatment on the directions of the political executive,’ said Deep Mathur, former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to former health minister A K Walia. ‘If the hospitals didn’t regard the recommendations, we used to follow up the cases and pressurise them to honour it,’ he added.
Besides OSD, Medical Superintendent of Nurshing Home and Patient Welfare Cell (NHPWC) Dr RN Dass used to address such cases at the camp office and minister’s office in the Department of Health Services of Delhi government. In absence of any alternative system, the private hospitals now insist for BPL card or income certificate of less than six months’ old to provide free treatment.
??‘There is no requirement of any document but only a self declaration form in which the patient or his guardian is required to declare that his income is below minimum wages in Delhi i.e. less than Rs 8,554,’ said Ashok Agarwal, eminent lawyer and member of the EWS monitoring committee. ‘These hospitals should provide self declaration forms but they don’t. As per the directions of the Supreme Court, these hospitals should extend free facility to poor patient of any state of the country,’ he added. The absence of any monitoring and inspection in the present system has left the poor patients at the mercy of these hospitals.
During a visit to Fortis Escort hospital in Okhla, this reporter found that the staff posted there insisted on a BPL card. The staff of the EWS OPD of Appollo Hospital in Sarita Vihar also refused to treat patients without BPL cards. Interestingly, Dr Dass who is responsible for inspection of these private hospitals, also insisted for either BPL or income certificate. Furthermore, these hospitals are required to give details of available beds on their website but they don’t. Some of the hospitals have rather discriminatory policies against poor patients.
Apollo Hospital in Sarita Vihar has separate reception and OPD for the poor and they would be attended by experts only on recommendation of junior doctors. BL Kapoor Hospital had a separate entry gate for poor patients. Now they have completely shut down the facility.
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