The CPI(M) on Thursday urged the State Government to set up a task force to ensure that GOs 77 and 78 are implemented by private hospitals in the district.

Party leaders said that COVID -19 cases are on the rise in Visakhapatnam district, with the number of cases crossing the 21,000 mark. They said that taking advantage of the situation, private hospitals are charging exorbitant rates from patients.

Speaking to The Hindu, CPI(M) State Secretariat member Ch. Narasinga Rao said that the government issued GOs 77 and 78 on July 8, directing the corporate and private hospitals to follow the norms as stated in the GOs.

“As per GO 77, the government specified that the charges for a bed per day, should not be more than ₹3,250. In critical cases, where ventilator facility is required with a special room, it should not be more than ₹10,388.”

“But a majority of corporate hospitals are charging close to or even more than ₹50,000 per day for per bed. Even after charging such enormous fees, they are admitting COVID patients with high recommendation or else they are simply refusing by saying that no beds are available without giving a valid reason, despite the dashboard showing that beds are available,” Mr. Narasinga Rao alleged.

The Left party leaders pointed out that despite charging such huge fees, the corporate hospitals have not increased the salary of the nurses and sanitation staff.

They also claimed that Aarogyasri and YSR A.H.C.T schemes are not being implemented in the corporate hospitals for the poor.

“Though the GO says that the list of charges must be displayed at the reception counter at the concerned hospitals and availability of beds should also be displayed, it is not being followed. We demand that in all the hospitals the list of charges should be displayed in public. The DM&HO is authorised to check and inspect the hospitals,” said Mr. Narasinga Rao.

‘Industry should chip in’

The Left party added that it is time for the corporate and PSU sector to chip in during this crisis.

Most of the PSUs such as Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Railways, Port, Eastern Naval Command, BHPV and Hindustan Shipyard Limited are having their own hospitals with all facilities. These hospitals should start treating COVID patients and apart from their own employees they should open them for the general public also in case of emergencies,” Mr. Narasinga Rao said.