Residents of Delhi, across all income groups, can now get free radiology tests at 21 private laboratories in the city, if they are referred by Delhi Government hospitals. Moreover, free surgeries would also be done at private hospitals for free for such patients, said Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain in the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The Aam Aadmi Party Government had in December announced free diagnostic tests for those residing in Delhi for the last three years and whose annual family income was under Rs 3 lakh. Both these conditions have been scrapped now and only a residetial proof is needed.
“This major policy decision is expected to help thousands of patients who could not afford critical diagnostic tests owing to their prohibitive costs,” Jain said.
Similarly, if the wait for surgeries at Delhi Government hospitals exceeds a month, these too can be carried out at 41 hospitals accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals (NABH) and registered with the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS). The Delhi Govern-ment will again reimburse these hospitals, Jain added.
“The dreams with which we had come into politics are now being fulfilled. The Government has already waived user charges in its hospitals besides making all medicines free. We also plan to provide the facility of free surgeries at private NABH-accredited hospitals soon,” Arvind Kejriwal said.
As per the free test scheme, termed a “revolutionary step” in improving public health care by Kejriwal, residents will be required to show a referral letter from any one of the 30 selected Government hospitals to avail the service that includes free MRIs, CT, PET scans and ultrasounds.
Speaking at a function at the Delhi Secretariat, Kejriwal said the scheme will help Government hospitals reduce the long waiting period for tests advised by doctors.
He added that the free tests will be available to all the residents of Delhi and there is no income limit required for availing the facility except for providing a residence proof.
“The move will be a great help for poor patients. All the costs for radiology tests will be borne by the Delhi Government. We have tied up with 21 private laboratories for the same. This is a revolutionary step in public heath care sector,” he said.
Delhi Government’s education and health care models, especially the highly popular Mohalla Clinics are being adopted across the country and several countries are also praising them, Kejriwal added.