The state government’s decision to increase user charges in the government hospitals would further increase the patient load in the Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) hospital. Since GDMC hospital is associated hospital of medical college, the decision to increase charges would not be applicable  in it.

The user charges of the facilities provided in different government hospitals and health centres are revised every year. As per the norm, the charges are increased by 10 percent every year.

The erstwhile Doon hospital which was district hospital of Dehradun was merged with the Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) in the year 2015 to fulfil the requirement of medical college. After the merger, the  increase in user charges made by the health department failed to be applicable on the GDMC hospital as it became part of medical education department. In the last four years, a big difference in the user charges of GDMC hospital and other hospitals has occurred. This difference is also prompting more patients to the hospital which is already overloaded with patients.

On Wednesday, the state cabinet took a decision to impose a hike in user charges in the government hospitals. This hike would further widen the gap in user charges of medical college hospitals and the government hospitals.

In GDMC hospital a fee of Rs 17 is charged for registration in OPD while after the increase the OPD fees in government hospitals would become Rs 30. Similarly a registration fees of Rs 89 is charged for IPD registration in GDMC hospital. The IPD fee in the government hospital would be Rs 120 after the increase. For the CBC pathology test, a sum of only Rs 98 is charged in GDMC hospital while in a government hospital a patient would now have to spend Rs 135 for this test. For Ultrasound the department of radiology would still charge Rs 354 but in any government hospital a sum of Rs 471 would be charged for an ultrasound. 

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Dehradun, Dr S K Gupta said that the new rates would be applicable in the government hospitals after receipt of the order.