Govt hospitals to tie up with pvt diagnostic labs

Delhi health minister Dr AK Walia wants to open more laboratories in partnership with private centres to ensure patients do not wait endlessly to get tests done or fall prey to touts in hospitals.

Delhi health minister Dr AK Walia wants to open more laboratories in partnership with private centres to ensure patients do not wait endlessly to get tests done or fall prey to touts in hospitals.

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In a meeting with health department officials, Walia proposed public-private-partnership (PPP) for diagnostic labs in Delhi government hospitals. "We have a tie-up with private labs for CT scans and MRIs. We now are looking for a tie-up for even pathological tests," said Walia.

Shortage of medicines in hospital dispensaries is another problem, for which the government has decided to give a free hand to all medical superintendents to buy medicines based on individual requirements. "We plan to ask the hospitals to procure medicines privately with the funds allocated to them as per their needs," the minister said.

To meet security concerns, individual hospitals have been allowed to hire private security guards in case they are unable to fill the quota of guards assigned to them by the government.

The medical superintendent of municipal corporation-run Hindu Rao Hospital Dr RB Mittal said he is planning to hire doctors, nurses and other non-medical staff members on a contractual basis.