NEW DELHI: The health department of the Delhi government has prepared a standard operating procedure (SoP) to release the payment for private ambulances being used to ferry Covid-19 patients.
The SoP has been prepared to ensure transparency and timely payment to the vendors or individuals, who are rendering duty during a health crisis.
According to the nine-point steps compiled by the department, nodal officers at Centralised Ambulance Trauma Services (CATS) will verify the bills and logbook maintained by the driver of the ambulance.
The documents will also be vetted by the in-charge of the hospital, quarantine centre, isolation centre or the laboratory.
“Calls from the patients, District Surveillance Officer (DSO), or others will be received by the CATS and a call ID will be generated and will be sent to the concerned ambulance for necessary transportation. The driver of the ambulance will maintain the logbook. Concerned nodal officer of CATS will verify
the logbook as per the actual travel daily,” said an official belonging to the health and family welfare department.
The SoP says that the logbook will also be verified by the in-charge of the hospital and other health facilities such as quarantine centres or isolation centres.
The department will approve payments weekly for which the vendors will need to produce all the bills and work order issued by the department along with verified copies of the logbook within two days of completion of the week for which the payment is sought.
“All the details about patients, distance, day and time should be mentioned on the invoice. The ambulance driver must ensure his presence at the Covid-19 control centre and CATS designated place on time and sign the physical attendance daily twice – in the morning and evening. The attendance will be verified by the CATS officer,” said the official.
To ensure the release of payment on time, the bills including all claim documents should be moved to state accounts manager (SAM) through deputy director (finance) for examination.SAM will confirm timely payment and share information with vendor and CATS, said the SoP.