Private hospitals in Bengaluru are under fire for refusing to admit COVID-19 patients under the government quota.
In a letter to the Commissioner, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) Special Commissioner (Health and Solid Waste Management) D. Randeep has given a list of 49 hospitals in the city, including some well-known ones.
Mr. Randeep said that many of the private hospitals, which were accepting patients against payable private beds quota, were refusing patients under government quota. This even after the government has directed them to reserve 50% of the total beds available for COVID-19 patients.
He has noted that Regina Joseph, cluster head for private hospitals, had pointed out that despite repeatedly calling these hospitals over the past few days, the calls went unanswered.
Mr. Randeep told The Hindu that he had recommended to the Department of Health and Family Welfare to warn private hospitals and facilitate admission of patients referred by the civic body. “If hospitals fail to heed to the warning, showcause notices will be issued by the District Health Officer,” he said.
Meanwhile, Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar who along with top health officials had a meeting with private hospitals on Friday said the government was putting in place a centralised bed allotment system.
“We have directed all private hospital heads to compulsorily enter the bed occupancy details on the Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust portal. In a day or two, we will have a transparent centralised allocation system for allocation of beds and people can view its real-time availability,” the Minister said adding that the State was working on triaging patients at the swab centres itself.
Meanwhile, sources said the meeting with private hospital representatives was stormy with the government insisting that the hospitals hand over 50% of the 3,000 beds agreed for government quota patients. “The government is asking us to give them their quota. But with nearly 2,000 COVID beds already occupied, we will need time to create more beds,” said R. Ravindra, president, Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes’ Association.