The state government has deputed five IAS officers and two auditors to ensure the availability of beds for patients suffering from the coronavirus. This comes after complaints came in of 35 prominent private hospitals of not sharing beds with the BMC.
The officials are touted to check the number of patients admitted in the hospital and their bed capacity. The following information will then be updated on the website of BMC. The government had earlier mandated that 80 per cent of all beds shall be reserved for patients suffering from the coronavirus. The BMC is said to create separate mail ids for these officials where people can write them complains pertaining to the hospitals overcharging them for the reserved beds. There have been reports earlier of the hospitals overcharging the patients, more than three times the market rate. The officials appointed by the government is said to keep an eye on such activities too.
The Supreme Court on Friday had sought a response from the Centre on public interest litigation (PIL) asking for the capping of the treatment cost of COVID-19 patients in private hospitals in the country. The bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan authorized notice to the Centre on the PIL filed by Avishek Goenka for fixing an upper limit of cost for COVID-19 treatment by private hospitals.
The plea has also sought a surge in the number of private quarantine facilities and hospitals for the infected people who are to avail such facilities on payment basis further adding that currently such an option is not given to patients. It also sought directions for immediate enrolment of more private hospitals, for the coronavirus post-infection treatment as well as quarantine facilities. Furthermore, it sought a constitution of a joint expert committee for examining and recommending the best global practices for the treatment of COVID-19. Its recommendations shall further be binding on all the authorities.
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