Noida, Ghaziabadmay start central panel rates in pvt hospitals

NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: The VK Paul Committee’s recommendations regarding charges for Covid beds in private hospitals should be followed in Noida and Ghaziabad as well, a senior bureaucrat said on Monday.
Officials said the UP government may soon implement the same rates across the state.The central government committee, headed by Niti Aayog member VK Paul, was set up by the Union home minister earlier in June. It had recommended that private hospital in Delhi should charge between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 a day for regular isolation beds, Rs 13,000-15,000 a day for ICU beds without ventilator and Rs 15,000-18,000 for ICU beds with ventilator. The rates were yet to be implemented in NCR cities.
The suggestion to implement the panel’s recommendations was made during a visit by additional chief secretary (medical education) Rajneesh Dubey to review the Covid preparedness in Noida and Ghaziabad on Monday. Noida and Ghaziabad are the two districts that have reported the maximum cases in UP.
In Noida, Dubey, along with nodal officer for the district Narendra Bhooshan, met officials from the health department and the district administration. “We have recommended that the rates be implemented for 60% of the Covid patients in the hospital, 20% of the beds be used for CGHS patients and 20% for normal patients,” said Bhooshan.
District magistrate Suhas LY said the recommendations would be reviewed and implemented.
To arrest the high attrition rate of healthcare workers in some hospitals, officials said an FIR would be registered against such staff in Noida. The step was taken after Sharda Hospital reported that four doctors had resigned recently, four refused Covid duty and 55 nurses left.
“We were told to send a notice to these staff and wait for two days. If they fail to report, a complaint will be filed in the next two days. If they still do not respond, the administration can take steps to arrest them,” a spokesperson for Sharda said.
Dubey also asked officials to increase testing and surveillance in both the districts. During the drive going on in Noida and Ghaziabad since July 2, antigen testing has not been able to meet its daily target of 3,000 samples a single day. “We were told that the teams are not enough for antigen testing. We have asked the health department to increase the number of teams from 17 to 40,” Bhooshan said.
Earlier in the day, Dubey held a meeting with officials and doctors of the Indian Medical Association in Ghaziabad. He asked the officials to emphasise on tracing and treatment of patients. Dubey also directed the health department to increase the number of lab technicians to fulfil the target of 4,000 tests daily.