Hi End Hospitals

Most of the Hi End or Super Speciality Hospitals in our country are managed by mostly charitable trusts. These trusts when they start the hospitals give assurance to govt that they will provide  free medical facilities to poor patients and  reserve 10% of beds for the poor and needy persons who can not afford treatments, and in return generally they get land in prime area at very low rate from govt, extra floor space index(FSI) and many more other concessions.  Initially there were no concrete laws to check whether the hospitals are providing the free/concessional services to poor people. In the year 1986 provision was made in Maharashtra Public Trust act that the Charitable Trusts who take concessions from the govt will have to give free/concessional services to poor patients.  But the office of Charity Commissioner Mumbai, did not issue any directions to state aided public trusts to provided services to  indigent (very poor) and weaker sections of the society. It looked like that the office of Charity Commissioner was in league with these type of trusts and the act was not implemented. In the year 2006 then Bombay High Court intervened and framed  a scheme effective from Sept 2006. The scheme was :

— For Indigent Patients ( whose family income is below 25,000 per annum), the hospital will reserve 10% of beds and 10 % of OPD services at no cost.

— For Weaker Sections( whose family income is less than 50,000 per annum)- they will also get  beds from 10% quota and similarly OPD services at concessional rates.

For proof of income  a certificate from Tehsildar, a ration card or Below Poverty Line (BPL) card will have to be produced before availing the services.

Recently a classical incident happened in Mumbai, which is described below:

1.   The Charity Commissioner of Mumbai Shiv Kumar Dige walked into a Super Speciality Hospital in West Mumbai posing as  a commoner and approached the reception of the Hospital and enquired whether he could avail treatment for chest pain under the charity scheme. He told the the receptionist that he is a slum dweller from Mahalaxmi and hold a yellow ration card(for weaker section) with annual income less than Rs 50,000. The receptionist answered that  she is unaware of any such scheme  and directed him to another office in different section of the Hospital.
2.  When after great difficulty he could locate this office, he found that it is a Social Workers office, and along with this office was Arogya Seva Krndra. While the Social worker was not too forthcoming about the charitable treatment issue.The person from Arogya Kendra asked him about his occupation and proof of his annual income and was asked to proceed to billing section to pay deposit.  Dige said he is in no position to pay for his treatment but he was told without deposit they can not start the treatment.
3. Afterwards Dige said that he walked out from Arogya Kendra and asked his staff to conduct a raid on the hospital premises.
4. Dige further made the statement to press that Arogya Kendra or similar office should be there right at the entrance of the hospital and not in some obscure corner, the incoming poor patient should know where they can go to enquire about treatment under charity scheme.
5. During the raid it was found that only 12 patients were treated under the charity scheme, although as per the law they are suppose to block 10% of beds, which should have been 66 beds as total beds  are 660 in the hospital.  The balance of 54 beds were allocated to paying patients. Out of the 12 patients only 6 patients have given their income proof. The board that informs patients about this scheme   and availability of beds was hanging in nondescript part of the hospital.
6. After this Dige directed his office to file a criminal case against trustees for violation of Public Trust Act. He further stated that during previous inspection in May this year all these short comings were pointed out to the management..

The above hospital which is very famous in western suburbs of Mumbai is known as Nanavati Hospital. There are many such hospitals in Mumbai who have taken concessions from state but never treat poor patients free of cost and it has been reported earlier in certain section of the press that relatives and friends of trustees are generally treated under this scheme by registering them as poor patients. Presently the medical treatment has become a business and not an ethical service , which it should be.

What you say my friends

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