Now, hospitals in Delhi cannot turn away a patient admitted in a critical condition just because they don’t have facilities. They are directed to shift them to the right facility. The development has come barely two days after the death of a newborn girl because the family could not get ventilator support in four state-run hospitals.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal directed Health Minister Satyendar Jain to submit an action plan within a week to ensure that seriously ill patients do not suffer for their inability to find the hospitals. Sources told a leading news website that the data related to functional care facilities of all the Delhi hospitals were available.
The government officials said that critically-ill patients were often turned away due to non-availability of beds or facilities. In case of the newborn girl, the parents alleged that the Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital, where she was born, did not have ventilator support. The girl’s grandfather alleged that the hospital administration did not do anything to arrange for the facilities. As a result, the girl passed away on September 21.
Also read: Newborn declared dead by hospital in Delhi, found alive before burial
Recently, a similar incident took place in Kolkata wherein an accident victim had to approach West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after being turned away by hospitals. The van puller from Jalpaiguri was turned away by hospitals which cited non-availability of hospital beds. It was only after the CM intervened that he was shifted to an air-conditioned room in SSKM Hospital.
