The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the State government’s Directorate of Health Services to remove within a year all deficiencies and lacunae at two government hospitals in Narela, serving a population of 10 lakh in North-West Delhi. A committee of doctors had pointed out deficiencies in its report and made recommendations for resolving the issue.
Disposing of a public interest litigation, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw said a direction for compliance in a time-bound manner with the guidelines for district hospitals evolved by the Union government’s Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) would not serve any purpose in the instant case.
Petitioner Vikas Saini had contended that Satyawadi Raja Harish Chander Hospital and Maharishi Valmiki Hospital in Narela did not have the essential emergency facilities in their cardio-vascular department.
The condition of these hospitals compels the residents to travel long distances in peak traffic during emergency, which often proves fatal.
While the petitioner was unable to show that the DGHS guidelines were mandatory, the Delhi government’s counsel said it was not possible to make the hospitals comply with all the guidelines in a time-bound manner due to constraints on various fronts, including financial. The counsel said the endeavour for implementing the guidelines would be made.
It was pointed out to the court that though the national average of expenditure in the health sector was only 4.15 per cent, Delhi with just over one per cent of the national population had a health budget in excess of 10 per cent of the State budget.
The committee of doctors had made several recommendations for strengthening the existing intensive care units and improving central supply of medical gases at the two hospitals.
