In the wake of reports of the alleged refusal by private hospitals to admit dengue patients, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that his Government was planning to bring a law under which private hospitals refusing admission to emergency patients could be penalised.
He also said the Government was exploring the idea of taking over private hospitals temporarily during exigencies. “We are planning to come out with a law so that hospitals refusing treatment to an emergency patient can be penalised. In the next couple of days, we will call a special session of the legislative Assembly to bring in the law. Hospitals which refuse treatment will not be spared,” Kejriwal said.
The hospital records collected by The Pioneer show the dengue death toll in the national Capital has risen to 14. However, the municipal corporations claim that only five deaths have taken place till now. As per the corporation’s data released on Monday, 613 cases of dengue have been reported in the last one week and a total of 1,872 patients tested positive for the vector-borne disease till September 12.
In view of the alarming rise in cases, the Delhi Government has directed all schools to ensure that children come to school dressed in full sleeve shirts, trousers and salwar kameez for the next one month to prevent mosquito bites.
Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry asked the Delhi Government to take strict action against hospitals refusing dengue patients and directed it to rein in private facilities overcharging patients.
“I held a meeting with the Delhi Health Minister and asked him to take strict action against hospitals turning away dengue patients. They have been asked to submit a report on the actions taken. We have also assured that whatever support they need will be given. I have also asked Delhi Government to see that private hospitals do not charge unwarrantedly and that they should take reasonable fee from the patients,” Union Health Minister JP Nadda said after chairing a high-level
meeting with officials of Ram Manohar lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and lady Harding hospitals.
The Union Health Ministry noted that in the national Capital, the number of cases detected and deaths reported due to the vector-borne disease are on the “higher side” as compared to last year.
While the number of cases detected in Delhi last year was 995, the number this year till the second week of September was 1,872 and loss of life has been reported to be five as compared to three last year, an official statement said.
Meanwhile, patients are living in fear and are continuously shifting from one hospital to other, as they claim that most of the hospitals are not ready to admit them. Those who were getting treated at private clinics and hospitals have moved to Government-run hospitals due to the costly treatment.
Hospitals are overcrowded and doubling and tripling of beds is being done to accommodate the rush. However, as dengue cases are increasing at an alarming rate, the medical staff dealing with the patients is comparatively less in number. Private hospitals are also witnessing long queues of patients visiting for consultation.
The Chief Minister advised hospitals that profit should not supersede humanity. “It is heartbreaking. We have become blind in the race to make more profits. We shouldn’t forget our humanity. Nothing would have been lost if the hospital had treated the child. Would it have affected their profit margin so muchIJ” he asked.
Kejriwal’s statement comes amid reports of the death of a six-year-old child Aman due to dengue after he was refused admission by four hospitals in the national Capital.
Aman’s death comes a week after a seven-year-old boy Avinash died of dengue in the city following hospital authorities’ refusal to admit him. His heartbroken parents jumped to their death a few days after that.
The Chief Minister also conducted surprise checks at several hospitals including Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital and Dr Hedgewar Arogya Sansthan in Karkardooma.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain, who accompanied Kejriwal during the visits, urged people to get tests done at Government centres. “There are 50 centres where tests are being conducted free of cost, with the facility of getting reports on the same day,” Jain said.
Meanwhile, doctors at city hospitals are claiming that the number of dengue cases is expected to rise further in the coming weeks as September and October are the months when the disease spreads the most.
A doctor at RMl Hospital said: “If the Government had been as active earlier as it is now, then things would have been much better and there wouldn’t have been an outbreak-like situation.”
As cases of dengue continue to rise and inch towards the 2,000-mark in Delhi, Kejriwal had on Monday held a meeting with top officials of the Health Department and Rogi Kalyan Samitis which manage the affairs of Delhi Government-run hospitals and issued directions to “do everything possible” to control the situation.
However, at the national level, there has been a decrease in the number of dengue cases detected, with 75,808 cases registered in 2013, 40,571 cases in 2014 and nearly 21,000 cases in 2015 up to the second week of September. Recovery has been in more than 99.99 per cent cases, an official statement said.
The Chief Minister has also asked MlAs to visit hospitals in their constituencies twice daily and ensure that proper treatment is given to patients.