NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday voiced concern over the lack of medical infrastructure for critical care patients in government hospitals, asking the city government if funds meant for hospitals were being transferred to other projects.
The court asked the government to file a status report giving details of the amount spent on strengthening the health sector in the last five years. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora was 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 by four government hospitals.
The bench, hearing a PIL it had initiated suo moto in 2017 about the non-availability of ICU beds and ventilators in government hospitals, was told by advocate Ashok Aggarwal, assisting the court as amicus curiae in the matter, that the man was denied treatment by three city government and one central government hospital on different pretexts including non-availability of ICU, ventilator bed or CT scan.
The bench asked the Delhi government counsel why accident victims were not getting admission in hospitals and how no ventilator beds were available at the hospitals.
“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 said, adding “infrastructure was 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 counsel for the Union government said augmenting medical facilities were required, and sought time to get details from authorities on the issue.