NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the city government’s stand over forming a committee of doctors to look into the medical infrastructure and the overall situation of the government hospitals in the national capital.
A division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan asked the city government counsel to get instructions over the issue and also sought the suggestion from doctors.
The bench also comprising Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) initiated suo motu by the high court in 2017 about the non-availability of ICU beds and ventilators in city government hospitals.
During the hearing, city government’s counsel, Advocate Satyakam, submitted that the government is planning to start four new hospitals in the city with a total of 3,237 beds which will be functional in two to three years. The government will also increase the number of beds in existing medical facilities under the city government by 5,000, besides augmenting relevant infrastructure, the high court was told.
Earlier, the court had asked the government to file a status report giving details of the monetary amount spent in strengthening the health sector in the last five years.
The high court was also informed of an incident on the night of January 2 when a man, who jumped out of a moving PCR van, died after being denied treatment at four government hospitals in the city.
Following the inciudent, the bench had asked the Delhi government counsel why accident victims were not getting admission in hospitals and how no ventilator beds were available for critical patients.
“Where are things going wrong? Is proper infrastructure not there? Why are beds not available, what has happened in recent years? Just imagine, in four hospitals, a person does not get admission,” Justice Manmohan had observed, adding “infrastructure is not keeping pace with the demand of the growing population of the city.”
The court also asked whether funds meant for hospitals were being diverted to other projects and directed the city government to provide details at the next hearing.
The Delhi government on Wednesday submitted a report to the court showing the state of the medical equipment in its hospitals as well as vacancies and other issues. The counsel stated that “real problem” was lack of manpower and several posts of doctors were lying vacant.
The court issued notice to UPSC, DSSB and the Services department after it was informed about the issue of vacancies and lack of manpower in the hospitals and also suggested setting up a committee of doctors to come up with a solution. The court suggested setting up a committee of doctors to examine the hospitals run by the city government as a remedial measure.
‘4 hospitals, yet one does not get admission’
The court was hearing a PIL initiated suo motu in 2017 over the non-availability of ICU beds and ventilator facility in government hospitals in the city. Earlier this month, the court was told that a man had died after denial of treatment by three Delhi government and one Central government hospitals on various pretexts including non-availability of ICU, ventilator bed or CT scan.