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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Hospitals get care lesson

Hospitals get care lesson

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published Published on Sep 2, 2011   modified Modified on Sep 2, 2011

-The Telegraph

 

Private hospitals in Delhi that received land at a concession from the government must honour their undertaking to treat poor patients free of charge, the Supreme Court today said in a verdict that can have an impact in other states too.

The court allowed the hospitals to recoup the cost from private donors and sponsors or “by any other means”, which should include cross-subsidisation by raising rates for other patients.

The judgment can encourage the filing of public interest petitions in other states to get private hospitals that got cheap land to fulfil their commitments.

In Bengal, private hospitals often have the whole or part of the salami on land waived, a health department official said.

The hospitals usually have to agree to “provide total or partial support for treatment of the poor”, he said, which means waiving bed and surgery charges, cost of medicine and doctors’ fees.

In Delhi, 40-odd private hospitals had given a commitment to provide free treatment to 25 per cent of outpatients and 10 per cent of indoor patients. The apex court lambasted them for trying to wriggle out of it.

It set a monthly income of Rs 6,422 or less as the cut-off that defines “poor” in this context, and said this would include patients from outside Delhi, “even a foreigner”, and those referred by government hospitals that lack the treatment facilities.

The court said the poor would only need to fill in a hospital form to get the benefit: no proof of income would be required. The order upheld a March 2007 Delhi High Court judgment asking private hospitals to provide free treatment to the poor or return the government land.

Several private hospitals in and around Delhi claimed they do offer free treatment. A Fortis spokesperson said that at three hospitals under the network, “anyone who holds a BPL card can avail of this facility. Until now, consumables (accessories such as stents, implants, ocular lens) were being charged but we’ll abide by the revised regulations.”

The Apollo Indraprastha admits 60 to 75 people daily under the poor patients scheme, Apollo sources said. They pay only for medicines and consumables (now made free by the apex court).

The hospitals have been asked to maintain records about the patients and hand them over to the government if demanded.


The Telegraph, 2 September, 2011, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110902/jsp/frontpage/story_14454871.jsp


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