People dying without treatment, ramp up health facilities: HC

High Court says six CT scan machines can’t serve city’s 3 crore people; Minister says Health Secy. snubbed meetings; senior officer denies charge

Stressing the need to ramp up medical infrastructure and fill vacancies in the health sector, the High Court on Monday expressed anguish that there are only six CT scan machines in all Delhi government hospitals for three crore residents.

It also pointed out that people are losing lives as they are not being attended to at government hospitals due to a shortage of facilities and staff.

A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet P.S. Arora noted that Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, in a status report, has admitted that there are a lot of shortcomings and also given his suggestions.

Mr. Bharadwaj, who inspected many of the Delhi government’s 39 hospitals, claimed that Delhi Health Secretary S.B. Deepak Kumar remained absent whenever he convened meetings with hospital staff.

However, Mr. Kumar, who was present in the court, denied the allegations.

“I have accompanied the Minister in various hospitals, and wherever I have not been able to go, I informed him and sent some other official. I have always been there in the meetings, and the Minister’s minutes of meetings will show my presence,” he submitted.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) plea initiated on its own in 2017 concerning the issue of the unavailability of ICU beds and ventilator facilities in government hospitals.

How can you have just six CT scan machines for a population of three crore?” the Bench said.

It added that while the Health Secretary claimed that all six machines were working, affidavits given in a different matter said these were not fully functional.

Stating that it did not wish to enter a blame game, the court said, “No one should try to pass the buck, and if there is any challenge, it should be taken head-on.”

The Bench said it intends to set up a committee to look into the shortcomings and asked the various departments involved in the matter to give their reports and suggestions by February 9.

Status report

As per Mr. Bharadwaj’s status report, 33% of the doctors’ posts are vacant in Delhi government hospitals. The report said that over 75% of the sanctioned posts are vacant in some specialities. More than 20% of posts of paramedics are lying vacant, “leading to underutilisation of the existing infrastructure”, the status report added.

(With inputs from The Hindu Bureau)