L-G Baijal orders Delhi hospitals to display number of beds, prices outside gates

Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has also asked the Delhi health department to ensure the data displayed on the boards is reconciled with data on the Delhi Corona app and delhifightscorona.in web portal.

All major hospitals, clinics and nursing homes in Delhi will have to display the number of available beds, and room charges at their entry gates on a real-time basis from now on, the Lieutenant Governor’s office said on Wednesday.

Medical workers in PPE coveralls attend to a person with breathing issues outside the Covid-19 ward at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

In a directive issued to chief secretary Vijay Dev on Wednesday, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal also asked him to deploy officials to conduct random inspections across all hospitals to check malpractices such as overcharging or false refusal of beds.

The L-G is the chairperson of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is its vice-chairperson.

The order read, “In order to increase transparency and to facilitate the public, all major hospitals, clinics and nursing homes of Delhi should be directed to display on LED boards in large letters outside their establishments, at the entry point itself, the availability of beds (both Covid and non-Covid, wherever applicable), along with charges including for rooms/beds and details of the contact person for admission.”

“Further, periodic surprise checks may also be conducted by the officers deputed by the DDMA to ensure that correct data is displayed by hospitals/clinics/nursing homes concerned and no eligible/genuine patient is denied admission or is overcharged,” Baijal’s order further read.

The L-G’s order will stand alongside a similar order issued by the state health department on Tuesday, in which the Delhi government had asked all hospitals with 50 beds or more to put up a 12x10-feet flexboard at the entry gate.

At the same time, the order issued by the Delhi government on Tuesday stated that the flexboard has to say: “Important Notice. 1) For latest information on vacant beds in this hospital: Download Delhi Corona mobile app. Go to www.delhifightscorona.in/beds. Call 1031. If a hospital refuses a bed even though the app shows there are vacant beds in the hospital, you can call 1031 to file a complaint.”

The message further reads, “2) If you have tested positive for corona and your symptoms are mild, then you can recover at home though home isolation. If you do not have sufficient facilities at home to undergo home isolation, you can be admitted to our Covid Care Centre. Only Patients with severe symptoms need to be admitted to the hospital. 3) If you have severe symptoms of corona but have not been tested yet, or if the results are pending, do not panic. Hospitals cannot refuse to admit a patient with severe symptoms of corona. If a hospital refuses to admit you, call 1031 and file a complaint.”