DELHI: Doctors at Delhi government hospitals have opposed chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to reserve 50 per cent beds for Delhi residents at GB Pant hospital, saying there should be no discrimination against the patients coming from outside.
Last week, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government passed an order to reserve half of the beds available at its superspecialty GB Pant Hospital for the residents of the national Capital requiring specialised treatments, but doctors have now asked for a rethink.
The order states that the facility seeks to provide ‘timely’ and ‘best available’ treatment for patients, who are residents of Delhi.
Dr Vivek Choukesy, president of the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) told Mail Today: ‘It is very unconstitutional as even in the essential medical services, beds cannot be fixed for patients belonging to any city or region.
‘GB Pant Hospital is one of the tertiary care institutions of the Delhi government that sees a lot of rush every day.
‘What if any non-resident of Delhi comes to the hospital in a critical condition? Should he not be given admission?’
There should be no discrimination among patients for getting treatment. This will make our work more troublesome as there would be empty beds. We would not be able to provide it to patients belonging to other states,’ said Dr Choukesy.
Doctors also said that instead of passing such orders, the government should concentrate on making other hospitals, well-equipped with proper healthcare facilities.
It has been decided that 50 per cent of the total beds shall be reserved for patients, who fulfill the following conditions – they must be residents of Delhi, they should have been referred by another Delhi government hospital and the admission should have been for specialised treatment or for planned surgeries, stated the order.