March 5, 2010: The Times of India

New Delhi: After a brief reprieve in the wake of the Delhi High Court order that fined Indraprastha Apollo Hospital for not admitting enough patients in the mandatory free beds, such beds in city’s private hospitals that got land at subsidised rates continue to go a-begging. 

Of the 504 such beds available in Delhi, 384 were vacant on Wednesday afternoon. Many like Batra, Escorts and Jaipur Golden hospitals had not even bothered to report the status to the government as they are supposed to do on a daily basis, with the result that the number of occupied beds is taken by the health department as vacant.

This is as per a stated policy. The state health department, meanwhile, is fighting about 25 cases against various hospitals on the issue. The HC order on Apollo had been stayed by the Supreme Court sometimes back. 

Sample this. All 20 beds in Dharamshila Hospital and Research Centre are vacant, as are all 11 in Rockland and Flt Lt Rajan Dhall Hospital each, 39 of 42 in Venu Eye Institute and Research Centre, 10 of 11 in Pushpawati Singhania research Institute. Escorts and Jaipur Golden have 26 free beds each, Batra has 50, Max Devki Devi Heart and Vascular Institute has 19. All these beds have been classified as vacant on the assumption that the hospital would have reported if there was something to report, said a senior health official. 

Health minister Kiran Walia conceded that the number of occupied beds in this category — which had picked up after the HC order — have drastically fallen since the HC order was stayed. “Hospitals are not very forthcoming about admitting such patients. Consequently, poor patients are scared of going to these hospitals for fear of being charged. Hospitals have also started asking for BPL cards now and this again limits the scope of the scheme," he said. 

Hospital sources, meanwhile, say the figures tell just half the story. Patients on these beds are hardly treated at par with those on paid beds. Consultants visit them once in a day instead of twice or not at all as they do not get their fees. Getting surgeries done is a tall order because no surgeon is willing to forego the fees. 

A staff member of a reputed private hospital said, “There is a definite disparity in the quality of services and medical care available in the free and paid wards. Consultants, when they do visit, are often rude, inattentive to the problems of the patient." 

Often, even when beds are vacant, needy patients who have notched up a substantial bill do not get the benefit because the hospital staff is rarely forthcoming about the option and try and stifle the process as much as possible. 

On the other hand, the free beds that do get filled up are often occupied by kin of government officials and politicians in a covert quid pro quo where the hospitals’ non-compliance is ignored in return for the “favour". The facility does not often percolate down to the people who actually need it, said a source.

No Respite For Poor

Number of beds vacant according to Delhi government’s health department as on March 3 at 5pm

Dharamshila Hospital and Research Centre | 20 of 20 vacant

Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre | 26 of 26 vacant

Indian Spinal Injuries Centre | All 14 occupied

Saroj Hospital | 11 of 11 vacant

Primus Super Speciality | 10 of 10 vacant

Max Balaji Hospital | 16 of 19 vacant

Sir Ganga Trust Society | 14 of 68 vacant

Batra Hospital | 50 of 50 vacant

Sunderlal J Charitable Hospital | 18 of 23 vacant

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