In a landmark directive, the A.P. High Court has directed CGHS authorities to refer senior citizens of a CGHS dispensary at Kothapet to the nearest empanelled private hospitals of their choice.
The ruling is a boost for the long pending demand of CGHS beneficiaries in the capital, mostly senior citizens, who want to visit private hospitals of their choice.
Currently, all CGHS beneficiaries in the city are mandatorily referred to NIMS for treatment.
For the past two years, the CGHS beneficiaries at Kothapet dispensary have been demanding that they be referred to the nearest private hospital of their choice rather than NIMS, which is a good 25 km from Dilsukhnagar.
“In 2011, the State Human Rights Commission also had given similar advice to CGHS authorities. But they ignored it, which forced us to approach the High Court. It is the basic right of the beneficiaries to visit a hospital of their choice,” said a representative of the Senior Citizens Forum of CGHS Dispensary No. 12.
