Corporate hospitals have been asked not to delay treatment for people covered under the Rajiv Arogyasri scheme.
Minister for Secondary Education K. Parthasarathi, inaugurating the Time Hospitals ambulance service at Swaraj Maidan here on Friday, said some corporate hospitals were turning away patients on the premise that they needed one clarification or the other from the headquarters.
“If any hospital is facing difficulty in having their bills passed, I can help. And if there is somebody responsible for delay in passing of bill, stringent action will be taken against them.This we can do, but please do not turn the poor people away,” he said.
Welcoming the ambulance service and satellite centres to be established by the Time Hospitals group, the Minister said there were doctors in small towns, but they were not available round the clock.
“I even know of a case in which the patient died when the paramedical staff went to get the doctor,” he said.
The satellite centres and ambulance service would go a long way in providing treatment to patients in emergencies, he said.
Time Hospitals director and pulmonologist K. Anil said the satellite centres and ambulance services were being launched on the occasion of the hospitals' second anniversary.
Toll-free number
He said the hospital even acquired a toll-free number (1800- 425-5526) to make it easier for patients and their relatives to reach the ambulance service and satellite centres.
A doctor and paramedic team would be available on the toll-free number round the clock. Time Hospitals chairman and neurosurgeon Puvvada Ramakrishna, MD Myneni Hemanth, and director Mahesh Jaju participated in the programme.
