No sops if hospitals run by trusts don’t treat poor: CM

Chavan sets up monitoring committee, govt threatens action on pending issue

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday said the government has decided to revoke concessions extended to private charitable hospitals which do not reserve 10 per cent beds for poor and spend two per cent of their revenue to treat them.

The decision was taken at a meeting called to discuss the long-pending issue of prominent private charitable hospitals failing to provide and reserve beds for poor patients as per guidelines laid down by Bombay High Court in September 2006.

Hospitals must reserve 10 per cent of beds for poor patients and another 10 per cent for those above the poverty line, and spend two per cent of their revenue on treating the poor. However, there have been several complaints that the hospitals do not follow these guidelines.

Chavan has asked for a monitoring committee to be set up to keep a close eye on the provision of beds for the poor. The committee will be headed by an official from the charity commissioner's office, along with health department officials. It will keep a daily record of patients in the hospital and the beds offered to them. It has been asked to submit a detailed report to the state in six months.

"The government will take action against the hospitals if it is clear during monitoring that they are not fulfilling the conditions. We will revoke the concessions they are getting in terms of lease, electricity charges, water charges, octroi concessions for goods and land rent," Minister for Public Health Suresh Shetty said.

Reacting to the development, Dr R Pulgaonkar, CEO of the Jaslok Hospital, said, "We have been doing our bit to ensure that poor patients are treated as per the charity commissioner's scheme. In fact, this year we actually exceeded the stipulated amount to be spent on treatment of backward patients. However, maintenance charges of the hospitals, which run into crores, have also to be kept in mind. As far as monitoring goes, we wholly welcome the move. It is required for all parties involved."

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