The police have information that at least three hospitals in Kollam pay “incentives” and “bonus” to ambulance drivers for bringing accident victims, especially those involved in car accidents. The situation is not different in other districts too.
Competing private hospitals patronise ambulance drivers to increase profit and have even charted out special public relations plans for the latter. The hospitals hopes to garner the maximum number of people from rich background who unfortunately meet with road accidents.
As per reports, an ambulance driver is paid between ₹1,500 and ₹2,000 as incentive for bring accident victims from rich families. For Onam, the hospitals also pay a bonus ranging from ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 depending on the revenue generated by the driver.
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The competition has also led to violence. Even when a case of minor negligence is alleged against a hospital, a rival hospital sends a gang there to belittle the hospital in the public. This had happened on a couple of occasions at the so called “hospital belt” here and there have been police cases too.
Racket rampant
In Kollam, the ambulance-based racket is rampant in Karunagapally taluk, the police say. This is because National Highway 66 from Karunagapally to Chavara in the district is an accident-prone stretch with one of the heaviest accident rates in the State. Cars form the majority of vehicles involved in accidents here.
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The police say victims of these accidents are the prime targets of the hospitals. The hospitals are alerted immediately by the drivers and the operation begins leaving no room for the victims or their relatives to choose a referral hospital. The drivers just take the ambulance to the hospital of their choice.
In one incident, the police at Karunagapally warned ambulance drivers not to take the accidents victims to the “hospital belt” but to the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram.
The police said such a racket operated out of the Kollam District Hospital too.