The Pithampur industrial area has no ESIC hospital and child delivery, accident and emergency cases have to be referred to the hospital at Mhow which is 25 km away from the place. In many cases in the past, this has resulted in even the death of the patient.
Although the Centre, following a report in The Pioneer in February 2012, listed three hospitals - the super specialty Sanjeevni hospital and two others - for availing ESIC facilities by the industrial workers, patients have to go through the unnecessary burden of filling form no 4 - a referral form of government ESIC dispensary at Indore. Patients often complain that doctors who provide form no 4 to them insist on sending them to hospitals of their choice. They completely ignore the patients’ choice while noting down the hospital’s name in form no. 4.
Under the Central Government Health Scheme, it is clearly mentioned that the choice of patients with regard to hospitals may be given utmost priority. The employees of Pithampur industrial area said if their problems were not solved, they would go to ESIC headquarters in Delhi and and lodge a formal complaint in this regard.