- Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP government passed an order to reserve 50 per cent of beds at the GB Pant hospital for Delhi residents only
- But doctors warned that it will mean discriminating against other sick patients
- They have called on the government to rethink the ‘unconstitutional’ order
- See more news from India at www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome
Doctors at Delhi government hospitals have opposed chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to reserve 50 per cent beds for Delhi residents at GB Pant hospital, saying there should be no discrimination against the patients coming from outside.
Last week, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government passed an order to reserve half of the beds available at its superspecialty GB Pant Hospital for the residents of the national Capital requiring specialised treatments, but doctors have now asked for a rethink.
The order states that the facility seeks to provide ‘timely’ and ‘best available’ treatment for patients, who are residents of Delhi.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP government passed an order to reserve 50 per cent of beds at the GB Pant hospital for Delhi residents only (photo for representation only)
Dr Vivek Choukesy, president of the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) told Mail Today: ‘It is very unconstitutional as even in the essential medical services, beds cannot be fixed for patients belonging to any city or region.
‘GB Pant Hospital is one of the tertiary care institutions of the Delhi government that sees a lot of rush every day.
‘What if any non-resident of Delhi comes to the hospital in a critical condition? Should he not be given admission?’
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to reserve 50 per cent beds for Delhi residents at GB Pant hospital has come under fire from medics
‘There should be no discrimination among patients for getting treatment. This will make our work more troublesome as there would be empty beds. We would not be able to provide it to patients belonging to other states,’ said Dr Choukesy.
Doctors also said that instead of passing such orders, the government should concentrate on making other hospitals, well-equipped with proper healthcare facilities.
It has been decided that 50 per cent of the total beds shall be reserved for patients, who fulfill the following conditions – they must be residents of Delhi, they should have been referred by another Delhi government hospital and the admission should have been for specialised treatment or for planned surgeries, stated the order which has been seen by Mail Today.
Dr Nishant Ashwani, a senior doctor at GB Pant Hospital and joint secretary, FORDA, said: ‘Here, we follow a policy of “one patient one bed”. We don’t know how this order will be executed. It is very impractical. At GB Pant hospital, we get lot of referral cases from outside Delhi.
‘If 50 per cent of the beds are fixed for Delhi patients, we would have to refuse beds to severely ill patients belonging to other states.’
Officials have informed that GB Pant Hospital gets about three lakh patients in the OPD and almost 15,000 patients in general and private wards every year.