Says they are violating the rules by failing to provide more beds for such patients and are billing them more
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has exposed serious discrepancies in the treatment of poor patients at charitable hospitals in the city. Its report, tabled by the state in the legislature yesterday, said such hospitals have failed to contribute to mandatory funds and billed poor patients extra.
The hospitals got government facilities/concessions such as vacant land, special permission, water and extra floor space index (FSI) as they are registered as charitable institutes.
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Under the Maharashtra Public Trusts (MPT) Act, 1950, they are required to reserve 10% of beds for indigent persons and treat them for free, and offer weaker sections a concession. The 10% reservation also applies to outpatients.
The CAG observed that the BMC had given additional FSI to certain hospitals on the condition that poor patients would have 20% of their beds. Inspections of the records of 11 hospitals revealed that four of them were granted additional FSI, but they stuck to only 10% reservation.
The CAG said it found that two hospitals — Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Research Centre, and Sushrut Hospital and Research Centre — were given land in 1998 and 1979, respectively, on lease at a concessional rate of Rs 1/year. They were supposed to give 15-30% reservation, but they restricted it to 10%.
The report said medicines, consumables and implants are to be charged at the purchase price to the hospital. Charitable hospitals should not ask for any deposit in case of admission of indigent patients, but deposits of Rs 1.74 lakh from nine such patients were sought.
When the CAG scrutinised six bills at PD Hinduja Hospital and 55 at Bethany Hospital for 2012-15, it found that poor patients were charged 50% towards anaesthesia, ICU, imaging, investigation, operation theatre and surgery charges as well as doctor’s fees, instead of only towards the cost of medicines, consumables and implants. This led to an undue financial burden of Rs 38.03 lakh on patients.
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