Politicians avail of free treatment at poor's cost -- Apollo Hospital

Politicians avail of free treatment at poor's cost -- Apollo Hospital
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, JULY 4: Superspeciality Apollo Hospital on Tuesday complained to the Delhi High Court that the city government is recommending politicians to it under the Free Treatment Scheme available for poor patients.

``Politicians are coming to the hospital for treatment and a post-facto recommendation is sent by the government for their free treatment under the scheme,'' Apollo counsel Lalit Bhasin told a division bench comprising Justice Anil Dev Singh and Justice M K Sharma.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking implementation of the Free Treatment agreement between the hospital and the government in letter and spirit.

Seeking clear guidelines for patients to avail of the Free Treatment Scheme, Bhasin said recently a politician, on whose treatment Rs eight lakh was spent, had managed to procure post-facto recommendation from the government making him eligible to avail of free treatment. He, however, did not disclose the politician's name. Under the agreement, the hospital is to provide indoor treatment to 200 poor patients out of its total capacity of 600 beds, while treating 40 per cent of outdoor patients free in lieu of the land provided by the city government at Re one per square metre. The petitioner, All India Lawyers' Union (AILU), had also sought free medicines and other items to poor patients claiming there was provision for the same in the agreement.

AILU counsel Ashok Agarwal alleged that the government was not serious on the issue and only very few people were aware of the scheme.

The AILU also accused the government of not enforcing similar agreements with other private hospitals, to whom it had provided land at concessional rates on the condition that they would make 25 per cent beds available to poor patients for free treatment. The court, after hearing the arguments, directed the government to place before it by July 18 all agreements with private hospitals regarding allotment of land on concessional rates. Referring to Apollo, the court observed that it has to see whether the money earned by the hospital from 400 indoor patients could compensate for expenses incurred on 200 poor patients, and if the earnings would also make it able to pay for free medicines to them.

Government counsel Avinash Ahlawat said it was as per the discretion of the government to see who deserves to be given the free treatment facility. ``They (hospital) have no right to question who should be referred to it or not,'' she said adding only eligible poor patients were being sent to the hospital under the scheme.The court said this was the last opportunity to the respondent as it wanted to dispose of the petition, which had been pending for about three years.