VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday directed officials to act tough on private hospitals, which are collecting exorbitant charges for Covid-19 treatment.
Refraining from acting tough on the errant hospitals amounts to mistake on the part of officials. Action should be taken against the hospitals, which are collecting more than the charges fixed by the State government, within 24 hours of receiving a complaint from Covid patients and their kin, he said.
Jagan also directed District Collectors and Superintendents of Police to enforce partial curfew strictly and any laxity on their part in this regard will not be tolerated.
The Chief Minister took stock of the Covid- 19 situation with the Collectors and SPs during Spandana video conference in which, doctors from all the districts also participated for the first time.
Directing the officials to ensure allotment of 50 per cent of beds in private hospitals to Aarogyasri patients, he said as many as 28,737 patients are being treated under the scheme.
Stating that the rates fixed by the government for Covid treatment are higher than that of medical insurance companies, Jagan instructed the officials to ensure that all the private hospitals strictly adhere to the guidelines.
“If Aarogya Mitras work efficiently and the footage of CCTV cameras is analysed properly, there is no need to conduct surprise inspection of hospitals to ensure that the guidelines are not violated,” he said.
Penalties should be imposed on the hospitals if they violate the guidelines for the first time. Cases should be registered against them if they violate the norms for the second time, the Chief Minister said. On treatment of black fungus cases, he said there was an acute shortage of drugs.
“The entire country is facing shortage of black fungus drugs as each patient needs to be given at least 50 injections in a week. But the State has received only 3,000 vials from the Centre and another 2,000 vials will arrive soon. We are putting pressure on the Centre to get more vials to treat the fungal infection cases,” he said.
Stringent action should be taken against pharmacists who resort to hoarding and black marketing of essential drugs during Covid times, he said.
Appreciating the officials for augmenting supply of oxygen in the State, which increased to over 600 MT from 330 MT, Jagan said the State had stocked enough oxygen to meet its requirements for two days in view of Cyclone Yaas. The officials should focus on auditing oxygen stocks to streamline its supply further, he said.
Lauding the dedication of doctors, nurses and other medical staff in discharging their duties during the pandemic, he said the officials should maintain restraint if there are any minor lapses. “One must remember that everyone is working under tremendous pressure during the pandemic,’’ the Chief Minister said.