BENGALURU: Akshay Somappa (name changed) from Electronics City in Bengaluru recently received a message, “You had recently completed a Covid test and must have already received a call from our assistance team. You will now receive a call from our doctors to assess your symptoms and give you correct advice on the next steps to be followed, please keep your phone charged and next to you. We wish you health and happiness.
Thank you, Karnataka State Coronavirus helpline. Your case ID is ****, Your ICMR Number is BU-******. Please call 7406884445 if need to speak to a doctor urgently...” This was followed by a call from Apthamitra, with the caller telling the patient’s wife that if the family wanted to opt for a government hospital, it was free of cost, but they would have to pay for a private hospital. This goes in contravention to rules which said that whether a patient opts for a government or private hospital within the government quota, it is free. Asked about this anomaly, Health Minister B Sreeramulu said officials would look into it.
Another patient from KGF, who decided to shift to Bengaluru for better treatment, was asked to cough up Rs 25,000 for a bed in a private hospital. The patient’s family said they could not afford it, and finally the sum was decided at Rs 10,000, and the bed was allocated only after the sum was deposited. Another person complained that a Covid-positive symptomatic patient who was admitted at a government-run facility, was not given the stipulated injection doses, but given only two, and the family had to buy the injection from the open market at a cost of over Rs 4,000. It is said that the injection that was meant for patients, was being sold to private hospitals.
Asked about these complaints, Rajendra Cholan, IAS, Special Commissioner, Health, said, “Let them come to me, we will book a case under the relevant sections of law, to send a strong message that such things will not be tolerated. The commissioner had a meeting with private hospitals. There is a call centre to look into complaints of billing and bed allotment. There are senior officers too at the zonal level to look into this.’’ Asked about these three complaints, Sreeramulu said they would be investigated and action taken. “We will constitute a committee under the additional chief secretary and get a detailed report on these complaints.’’