FIR against hospital for denying info on Covid-19 beds

A police complaint has been filed against the Sakra World Hospital for not providing details on the availability of beds for Covid-19 patients.

Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner G N Shivamurthy filed the complaint against the chief of medical services, Sakra Hospital, Dr Deepak Balani, Deepthi and Deepak Agarkhed of the hospital on July 29.

In the complaint, he said, a team of officers IPS officer Sunil Agarwal, IAS officer Uma Mahadevan and others visited the hospital and asked for the details on the availability of beds apart from the beds they are handing over to the government for Covid patients.

The team also asked for information on the discharge summary of Covid-19 patients from July 23 to 29 along with the treatment charges.

However, the hospital did not provide any details, the officer said in the complaint.

Marathahalli police have booked the trio under the Disaster Management Act, the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance and the KPME Rules.

Balani told DH that there was some error or a misunderstanding. "We have always strived to cooperate with the authorities," he said.

But when asked about the total bed strength in the hospital and the number of beds allocated to Covid patients, Balani said: "I will not comment on that. There's an FIR against me."