The Hindu : New Delhi News : Court reaffirms free treatment order

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Wednesday, Jul 18, 2007
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New Delhi

Court reaffirms free treatment order

Staff Reporter

‘Any hospital not complying with the directions will face serious consequence’

The poor should get 10 per cent of the treatment capacity in Indoor Patient Department
In Out-door Patient Department 25 per cent should be reserved for poor patients.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday made it clear that all private hospitals that were granted public land at cheaper rates here will have to provide free treatment to poor patients.

Ten per cent of the treatment capacity in the Indoor Patient Department (IPD) and 25 per cent in the Out-door Patient Department (OPD) would be reserved for poor patients.

A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice R. S. Sodhi and Justice H. R. Malhotra passed the order by way of clarification on a Delhi Government application seeking, among other things, whether all hospitals that were allotted public land at concessional rates were to abide by the High Court ruling of providing free treatment to poor patients.

The Government had filed the application following the assertion by certain private hospitals like Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Moolchand Khairati Ram Trust Hospital, Sunder Lal Jain Charitable Hospital, R. B. Jessa Ram Hospital, Khosla Medical Institute and Research Centre and Rockland Hospital that they would not implement the ruling as they were exempt from it.

“Any private hospital not complying with the High Court directions will face serious consequences,” the Bench warned.

The Court had pronounced the judgment in March this year on a public interest litigation by Ashok Aggarwal of non-government organisation “Social Jurist” seeking implementation of the land deed agreement entered into with these hospitals for providing, among other things, free treatment to certain percentage of poor patients out of their total treatment capacities. “Every person who has no income or has income below Rs.5,000 per month shall be treated under this category until a committee constituted by the Court takes a final view on the fixation of the criterion of the minimum income for receiving benefits under this scheme,” the ruling said.

“The free treatment means totally free and not partly free or partly paid; the free IPD patient will not have to pay for anything, including medicines and medical consumables, as in the case of Government hospitals,” the Court said. “They will be provided free admission, bed, medication, treatment, surgery facility, nursing facility and consumables and non-consumables. The hospitals charging any money from such patients shall be liable to be proceeded against in accordance with the law. Besides that, this would be treated as violation of the orders of the Court.”

The Court ruled that every Government hospital should establish a special referral centre for referring patients in critical conditions to speciality private hospitals. The private hospitals could also admit patients on their own, the Court added.

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