The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Disease of corruption hits Vani Vilas Hospital

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Disease of corruption hits Vani Vilas Hospital

Afshan Yasmeen

Patients say they have to pay at every step for proper healthcare

‘I need at least Rs. 1,000 to grease the palms of attendants in the hospital'
Recent issue of Lancet mentions corruption in State's healthcare

— Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

RAMPANT CORRUPTION:Patients allege that from gatekeepers to doctors, everyone has to be paid at Vani Vilas Hospital. Picture shows gateman collecting his quota.

Bangalore: Khairunissa, a resident of Goripalya who brought her daughter Shabeena for delivery at the State-run Vani Vilas Hospital, is worried.

After depositing the user fee of Rs. 530 (including Rs. 20 for case sheet and Rs. 10 for the out-patient department slip) and spending another Rs. 500 on tests, she is hard pressed to come up with at least another Rs. 1,000 for “miscellaneous expenditure”.

Ms. Khairunissa told this reporter: “My daughter had a normal delivery and is likely to be discharged within four days; I need at least Rs. 1,000 to grease the palms of attendants in the hospital. I paid Rs. 300 to the staff in the labour room because it was a girl child. If it was a boy, I would have had to pay Rs. 500. I went through a similar experience three months ago when I brought my older daughter Ruksana for delivery. It is difficult for me as I run my family of seven by rolling agarbathis.”

Paying at every step

Other patients alleged they had to pay at every step so as to ensure at least a modicum of care. From gatekeepers to doctors, everyone is on the take, patients alleged.

Ratnamma from Doddaballapur, who has been admitted for a hysterectomy, said she was aware that she had to pay between Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 4,000 to the doctor after the surgery. “After enquiring with other patients here, I have come prepared with Rs. 10,000. When the same surgery costs nearly Rs. 40,000 in a private hospital, it is okay to pay a little to the doctor,” she said.

Amudha from Pavagada, whose pregnant sister is epileptic, was furious that the ward attendants demanded money for everything. “We thought this is a government hospital and everything would be free. We are running short of money,” she said.

Although corruption in hospitals has been reported earlier, it is widespread in Vani Vilas Hospital.

“If the institution itself is corrupt, how can it set right things?” said Shamshuddin, an attendant to a patient.

In fact, the January 11 edition of the international medical journal Lancet published a paper, Good Governance in Healthcare: the Karnataka Experience, by the former Karnataka Lokayukta Vigilance Director H. Sudarshan and Prashanth N.S., faculty at the Institute of Public Health in Bangalore.

“Bribes related to healthcare comprised the highest portion of all bribes paid in Karnataka in 2008, at 40 per cent,” the paper stated.

Inquiry

O.S. Siddappa, Dean and Director of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) to which Vani Vilas is attached, told The Hindu that he would inquire into the allegations.

He said people could write complaints and put them in the complaint box or even bring to his notice any corrupt practices. “There is a helpdesk and I also inspect the hospital every Tuesday. People can directly complain to me,” he added.

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