Private hospitals told to upload info on free treatment
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has directed all identified private hospitals, which have been given land on concessional rates, to upload information relating to Economically Weaker Section (EWS) beds and free treatment on their website.
The information includes: the current status of EWS beds in the hospital, address and telephone numbers of the members of the monitoring committee, and the fact that the hospital is bound by an obligation to provide 10% IPD and 25% OPD facility completely free charges to eligible patients. There are currently 44 identified private hospitals under EWS category.
A circular issued by the directorate of health services (DHS) to all hospitals concerned stated that this is being done to create awareness among the public and expedite the work of achieving optimal level of occupancy of EWS beds and free treatment in the hospitals.
Apart from uploading the requisite information on their website, the private hospitals have also been directed to send a compliance report to the directorate both through email and by post within two weeks of the receipt of the circular.
This initiative was taken after a request from advocate Ashok Agarwal, member, EWS Monitoring Committee, to the principal health secretary of the Delhi government a few days ago. “Despite court rulings and constant inspections by the monitoring committee, several private hospitals are dithering over admitting the poor on one excuse or the other. This step will bring some transparency into the system,” said Agarwal.
