Patients belonging to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Below Poverty Line (BPL) categories are not being provided free treatment at major city hospitals in adherence to the policies and directions of the Haryana government, found a government panel on Thursday.
An 11-member subject committee of Haryana Vidhan Sabha on Education, Technical Education, Vocational Education, Medical Education and Health Services conducted an inspection of three major hospitals in the city — Medanta Medicity, Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI) and Artemis Hospital.
Gurugram MLA and committee chairman Umesh Aggarwal said that prima facie it was found that the three hospitals were not offering free treatment to as many EWS and BPL patients as they were supposed to. He said that the committee, which was on a two-day visit to the city, had decided to inspect the hospitals following a slew of complaints that the big hospitals in Gurugram were not treating the poor patients in a proper manner and were overcharging them.
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He, further, said that the committee had summoned a record as to how many poor patients were treated and would analyse it to decide on the future course of action.
Seek record details
Palwal MLA Karan Dalal said that the rich and foreigners were being treated in these hospitals, but not the poor. He claimed that the panel found only one EWS category patient admitted at Medanta Medicity and none in the remaining two hospitals.
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“We have also sought information on the number of patients having undergone organ transplants for liver and kidney and the names of the donors. Besides, we have sought details of the number of caesarean section and normal deliveries and dengue patients in the three hospitals,” said Mr. Dalal.
The committee also found that the information regarding the treatment of poor patients was displayed at the entrance of the Medanta Medicity, but the help desk for them was at the back of the hospital and not easily accessible. It found that the hospital had not maintained the OPD and indoor patients record for the poor patients as per the performa of the Health Department.
Earlier, Gurugram Civil Surgeon B.K. Rajoura, in a presentation to the panel, explained that the hospital authorities had agreed to provide free treatment to 20% OPD and 10% indoor patients of the EWS and BPL category in an agreement with the Haryana Urban Development Authority for allotment of land at concessional rates. He also informed that the poor patients could be referred to the hospital by the president of the district Red Cross Society at the recommendation of Chief Minister, Health Minister, Civil Surgeon or the Deputy Commissioner.
Mr. Rajoura, further, said that there was also a provision for a four-member monitoring committee to ensure the treatment of the poor patients in these hospitals as per the law.
FMRI and Medanta have been in news following accusations of medical negligence and overcharging.
FMRI statement
“FMRI complies with all the regulatory requirements mandated by the government of Haryana for providing multi-specialty hospital care to EWS/BPL category. A team of MLAs and senior government officials visited FMRI Gurugram and took rounds of the facility, discussed the admission process and also checked the patient records,” said FMRI spokesperson.