Delhi Government Contemplating to Bring an Ordinance on Rights of Patients

There have been reports that some private hospitals in the capital had turned away dengue patients. The Delhi government is contemplating to bring an ordinance to take action against hospitals which turn away dengue patients. Sources in the government said, "The ordinance would enable the government to impose heavy fine on the private hospitals across the city." A source said, "Any concrete decision on bringing the ordinance is not yet taken but, yes, the government is contemplating on these lines to strengthen the rights of the patients."

Data released by the Delhi government reveals that since Wednesday, 2,519 people were admitted in 34 hospitals (including those of the central government, municipal corporations and Delhi government) with fever and related complaints, and of these only 281 are dengue cases.

Last week, Avinash Rout from Odisha died of dengue. He was allegedly denied admission by five hospitals, including Moolchand Hospital, Aakash Hospital, Saket City Hospital, Max Hospital (Saket) and Irene Hospital (Kalkaji). Another boy, Aman, suffering from dengue, died because of hospital apathy as he too was refused admission in few hospitals, including Safdarjang Hospital.

After the death of these two boys, the Delhi government discussed the possibility of a special assembly session to frame a law to deal with negligence of private hospitals. The source said, "To bring an ordinance, the government will only need cabinet's nod and Lieutenant Governor's approval."

Source-IANS