The Delhi Government has approved the plan to construct three new Government hospitals with the capacity of 650 beds each to increase access to secondary and tertiary care to the patients. The project was approved in a meeting of ‘Expenditure Finance Committee’ headed by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday.
Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that these hospitals will be constructed in Madipur, Hastsal and Jwalapuri areas. “Our aim is to provide free and quality healthcare for all the patients regardless of their income status,” he said, adding that to achieve this aim, increasing access to healthcare is of paramount importance.
“We want to bring healthcare provisions close to people’s home so that they don’t have to spend their money on travelling or on private facilities. The Government will also increase the number of beds so that no patient is denied admission,” he added.
According to a statement issued by the government, the location of these hospitals has been selected considering high population density and lack of government hospital facility in proximity.
“Madipur is located in West Delhi and is an urban slum area. Hastsal (near Vikaspuri) and Jwalapuri (in Nagloi) are inhabited by urban, rural and semi-urban population. The three hospitals will cater to
over 40 lakhs populations,
who currently travel approximately 5 kms (or 30 minutes) to the closest government facility,” it said.
Apart from increasing access to tertiary healthcare and reducing the out-of-pocket expenses of patients, the construction of these hospitals will also reduce the burden on the existing Government facilities.
Analysis of the five years data for the Guru Gobind Singh Hospital (which is approximately 5 kms from the Madipur, Hastsal and Jwalapuri) shows that OPD attendance had increased from 5.5 lakh in 2011 to 6.82 lakh in 2016, with continued increase thereafter, it said.
“The corresponding increase for indoor admissions is 5360 patients from 3490 patients. Construction of new hospitals will enable reduction in patient burden and increase in beds per patient,” it added.
