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Should Delhi hospitals be reserved for city residents only? Govt seeks suggestions
New Delhi: With cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on the rise, the Delhi government announced a week-long border closure to ensure that beds in Delhi hospitals
New Delhi: With cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on the rise, the Delhi government announced a week-long border closure to ensure that beds in Delhi hospitals are utilised for the treatment of Delhi residents. The government has sought opinion from citizens as to whether the health services in Delhi should be restricted for Delhi residents during Covid-19 pandemic.
Delhi recorded 990 cases of Covid-19 on Monday with the total cases breaching the 20,000 mark at 20,834.
“The moment we open the borders people from across the country will come to Delhi for treatment. There are about 9,500 beds for the treatment of Covid-19 patients in Delhi; currently, there are only 2,300 patients. The beds will fill up in just two days if patients from across the country come for treatment to Delhi. Should we open the borders? Some say, borders should be opened but the hospitals services should be reserved for those living in Delhi till Covid-19 pandemic,” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a press briefing.
The CM has asked for people’s suggestions till Friday 5pm on WhatsApp (8800007722), email (delhicm.suggestion@gmail.com), or voice message (1031). A decision will be taken next week, he said.
So far, Delhi has 3,755 beds in government hospitals – including central government-run hospitals All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Safdarjung, Ram Manohar Lohia, and Lady Hardinge Medical College. Among the 5,390 beds the government plans to add by June 15 are 100 beds in the railway hospital and 70 beds in the Army Base hospital.
These hospitals cannot refuse any patients.
“RML has a no refusal policy. We treat whoever comes to our hospital,” said Dr Minakshi Bhardwaj, medical superintendent of the hospital. Similarly, at AIIMS – an autonomous institute under the central government – patients cannot be restricted based on where they stay as per hospital policy.
“As far as AIIMS is concerned, we treat patients from across the country – almost 50% of our patients are not Delhi residents. Being a central government-run hospital, we will continue to do so,” said Dr DK Sharma, medical superintendent, AIIMS.
Experts, however, say the Delhi government can restrict the services under such unusual circumstances. “The (state) government can choose to close the border and restrict health services. Currently, the state has the right to requisition each and every bed in the city irrespective of the ownership. Every state has a capacity and it is naturally justified that they want to utilise it for the treatment of their own patients,” said K Sujatha Rao, former union health secretary.
Legally, however, advocates say that such a move will be violative of the right to life.
“The government is seeking public opinion to justify an action it wants to take. However, all citizens in this country are equal and should have equal access to healthcare services. Plus, all healthcare facilities in Delhi are not run by the Delhi government – there are centre-run hospitals, MCD-run hospitals. Plus, in private hospitals that received subsidised land from the government, the guidelines say anybody from anywhere in India is eligible for free treatment under the economically weaker section category,” said advocate Ashok Agarwal, who works on cases of access to healthcare.
He had filed a petition in the high court when the Delhi government had restricted certain services – such as free medicines and diagnostics – to Delhi residents in its Guru Teg Bahadur hospital in the trans-Yamuna region, which receives about 70% of the patients from outside Delhi.
“The high court had ruled against the Delhi government decision then. In that matter, the high court had said that it was violative of right to life,” said Aggarwal.
