'New law to make pvt hospitals toe the line'

Asking private hospitals not to turn away dengue patients, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday said profit should not supersede humanity and warned of enacting a new law to punish errant health institutions.

Kejriwal said the government is planning a special Assembly session on dengue and enact a law under which private hospitals refusing admission to emergency patients could be penalised. He said the government was exploring the idea of taking over private hospitals for a temporary period during an exigency.

The Delhi Cabinet met in the evening to discuss the various options on action against private hospitals denyng admission. A decision will be taken within the next two or three days.

Facing political heat over spurt in dengue cases, Kejriwal, Health Minister Satyendra Jain and other AAP legislators visited hospitals to inspect preparations for dengue patients.
“We will call a special session of the Assembly in the next few days,” Kejriwal said, adding that hospitals that refuse treatment will not be spared.

While addressing industry captains at an event earlier, Kejriwal called upon private hospitals to adopt a humane approach towards patients. “Profit should not supersede humanity,” he said, in the backdrop of hospitals not admitting dengue patients who cannot afford costly treatment.

Kejriwal’s comment came in the backdrop of another boy succumbing to dengue and his family alleging negligence by hospital. “Nothing would have been lost if the hospital had treated the child. Would it have affected their profit margin so much?” Kejriwal said.
“We have become blind in the race to make more and more profit. We shouldn’t forget our humanity,” he said.

The Chief Minister conducted surprise checks at several hospitals, including Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital and Dr Hedgewar Aarogya Sansthan in Karkardooma. Jain inspected Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital and Acharya Shree Bhikshu Hospital.

“We will try to introduce a token system for people waiting in queues for dengue screening tests,” Jain said.

On September 8, seven-year-old Abhinash Rout died due to the vector-borne disease after allegedly being turned away by five hospitals, which had driven his parents to suicide.

Political rivals continued to slam the AAP government for mishandling the dengue crisis and alleged fudging of dengue figures by the government.

“In the past one month, 40 people have died in Kirari Assembly constituency in north-west Delhi with dengue-like symptoms. Even the figures on dengue afflicted people are fudged,” Congress leader Pratyush Kanth said. The BJP blamed the AAP government for the crisis.