As three more people succumbed to dengue since Tuesday night, taking the toll to 14 and hospitals across the capital continued to wilt under huge rush of patients down with the mosquito-borne fever, an embattled Delhi Government on Wednesday fixed a maximum fee of Rs600 for tests at private hospitals.
“We have come to know that private hospitals are overcharging for dengue tests. That is why we’ve decided to fix a cap on these tests for the private hospitals and laboratories. Nobody can charge anything beyond this rate,” said Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain. The State Government has also instructed private hospitals to increase their bed count by 10 to 20 per cent within a week. Delhi Government-run facilities have been ordered to increase beds by 1,000 by Sunday
Jain said, “A blanket order has been issued giving hospitals powers to buy more beds, employ more doctors, nurses and paramedic staff depending on their requirement. All arrangements have been made to ensure best possible treatment to dengue patients.”
Private hospitals have been asked to increase capacity by 10 to 20 per cent. Even a rise of 2,500 in the number of beds in private hospitals would be a big jump, Jain said. Currently, there are 50,000 beds in city hospitals including that of 10,000 in Delhi Government-run hospitals. The hospitals run by municipal corporations and Centre have a capacity of 10,000 beds each.
A 41-year-old woman died of dengue at Moolchand Hospital while a 14-year-old boy and a seven-year-old boy succumbed to the disease at Maharaja Agrasen Hospital and Bl Kapur Hospital respectively. Almost all Government-run hospitals were under increasing pressure as three to four patients were cramped on one bed in some of them due to unavailability of beds.