BELAGAVI: The Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Karnataka Private Medical Establishment (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday after the opposition demand to bring even government hospitals under its ambit proved futile. Opposition members, who dubbed it as a watered-down version of what the government had earlier proposed, accused it of bowing to pressure from private hospitals. The lives of many innocent patients which were lost during the five-day doctors’ strike could have been saved if the government had conveyed its readiness to accommodate doctors’ demand on the first day of the strike itself, the opposition members argued.
The main contention of the opposition was why government hospitals should not be brought under the Bill. Unless doctors working in public health care institutions are held accountable for their lapses, the government cannot expect good health care for poor families, they said. Responding to the concerns, Health Minister Ramesh Kumar said government hospitals have also been asked to display staff strength, availability of medicine and services being provided there.
Many members were worried about hospital bills of patients from APL families, as the KPME Amendment Bill mentions only about BPL families where the government will foot the bill. However, the minister clarified that the government was not being selective and said 30 percent of hospital bill of APL families will be borne by the government and rules will be framed on how the remaining amount can be recovered. Moreover, the government was thinking of implementing a Universal Health Scheme, which will cover every citizen, he added.
The opposition members also pointed out to confusion over the composition of the Registration and Grievances Redressal Authority. Allaying their doubts, Ramesh Kumar said the doctors’ associations have agreed to the district Deputy Commissioner heading it. As far as the woman member of the Authority is concerned, she will be an expert in dealing with specific complaints. However, it will be the discretion of the committee and it should be exercised diligently, he said.
Govt mulls Regulatory Commission
Ramesh Kumar said he was thinking of establishing an independent Regulatory Commission where every complaint related to health care services can be addressed. A detailed draft on such a mechanism will be brought before the House in the next session, he added. The minister listed out various steps being taken to improve health care services in government hospitals and ruled out suggestion made by some members on the government running a health insurance scheme and dropping the clause of displaying the Patients’ Charter. On the rate card, a committee of experts will fix it with provisions for filing objection from the public before finalising it, he added.
Face-saving Act
Noting that some clauses have been weakened, Opposition leader Jagadish Shettar said that tabling the modified Bill was a face-saving act of the government. It did same with anti-superstition Bill, he said adding that along with regulating private hospitals, the government should also take steps to put its house in order. JD(S) member H D Kumaraswamy said a kind of trust deficit was created between the government and private medical establishments due to stand taken by the health minister. If the government was ready to concede to doctors’ demands, why did it wait for so many days, he questioned. Moreover, it was being reported that the amended Bill was more diluted than the earlier Act.