Local ID not needed to get hospitalised in Chandigarh

In a May 12 order, the UT director of health services ordered that no patient shall be denied hospitalisation or essential drugs in the Chandigarh in absence of local residence or identity proof

Complying with the Supreme Court’s order, the Chandigarh health department has ordered that no patient shall be denied hospitalisation or essential drugs in the UT over the lack of local residence or identity proof.

Even PGIMER has asked all department heads to comply with the Supreme Court directions. (HT File Photo)

Chandigarh sees an influx of patients from neighbouring states, including Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, and with the overwhelming Covid-19 situation, a larger ingress, majorly for critical care services, is being witnessed.

At one point, the UT administration had denied sharing the bed occupancy details of the hospitals with officials citing reasons of “patients rushing to the city for better medical services”. However, after directions of Punjab and Haryana high court, the administration started to put out the data.

Last year, the hospitals under the UT administration had restricted normal childbirth services for women living outside the city jurisdiction as a measure to check the spread of Covid-19.

UT administrator VP Singh Badnore had stated in a press conference in April that the majority of beds had been occupied by people from outside Chandigarh, posing a challenge for the administration to ramp up the medical facilities.

Even UT adviser Manoj Parida, had last month appealed to Chandigarh residents not to “choke” the city’s health infrastructure by “inviting friends and relatives from outside”.

In a May 12 order, the UT director of health services ordered that no patient shall be denied hospitalisation or essential drugs in the Chandigarh in absence of local residence or identity proof.

Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) has asked all department heads to comply with the Supreme Court directions.

The apex court had earlier ordered that the central government shall, within two weeks, formulate a national policy on admissions to hospitals which shall be followed by all state governments and till then, no patient shall be denied hospitalisation or essential drugs in any state or UT for lack of local residential proof of that state/UT or even in the absence of any identity proof.

UT health officials, requesting anonymity, said though there were no strict instructions on denying treatment to patients from outside, the verbal directions would discourage admissions and that beds should be reserved for local residents.