Covid report not must for hospital admission: Govt

NEW DELHI: Amid rising concerns about hospitals turning away Covid-19 patients needing hospitalisation, the Centre on Saturday revised the national policy for admission of such patients and said requirement of a positive Covid-19 test report is not mandatory for admission to a health facility.
The policy, applicable for both public and private health facilities dedicated for Covid-19, also said that no patient will be refused services on any account, including oxygen and essential drugs, even if the patient belongs to a different city.
"This patient-centric measure aims to ensure prompt, effective and comprehensive treatment of patients suffering from Covid-19," the ministry said.
Hospitals under the central government, state governments and Union territory administration, including private hospitals managing Covid-19 patients, shall ensure that requirement of a positive test for Covid-19 virus is not mandatory for admission to a Covid health facility.
"A suspect case shall be admitted to the suspect ward of Covid Care Centre (CCC), Dedicated Covid Health Centre (DCHC) of dedicated Covid hospital (DHC) as the case may be," the directive to all the states and UTs said.
"No patient shall be refused admission on the ground that he/she is not able to produce a valid identity card that does not belong to the city where the hospital is located," it said. The ministry also said that admissions to hospital must be "based on need". "It should be ensured that beds are not occupied by persons who do not need hospitalisation. Further, the discharge should be strictly in accordance with the revised discharge policy," it said.
The ministry has advised the chief secretaries of states to issue necessary orders.