Delhi government mulling ordinance on rights of patients

The Delhi government is contemplating to bring an ordinance to take action against the hospitals which turn away the patients.

Sources in the government said the ordinance would enable the government to impose heavy fine on the private hospitals across the city.

There have been reports that some of the private hospitals had turned away the dengue patients.

"Any concrete decision on bringing the ordinance is not yet taken but, yes, the government is contemplating on these lines to strengthen the rights of the patients," a source said.

According to the data released by the Delhi government, since Wednesday, 2,519 people were admitted in 34 hospitals (including those of the central government, municipal corporations and Delhi government) with fever and related complaints, and of these only 281 are dengue cases.

Last week, Avinash Rout from Odisha died of dengue. Following his death, Rout's parents committed suicide.

Avinash was allegedly denied admission by five hospitals -- Moolchand Hospital, Aakash Hospital, Saket City Hospital, Max Hospital (Saket) and Irene Hospital (Kalkaji).

Another boy, Aman, suffering from dengue, died because of hospital apathy as he too was refused admission in a few hospitals, including Safdarjang Hospital.

After the deaths of two boys, the government discussed the possibility of a special assembly session to frame a law to deal with "negligence" of private hospitals.

"To bring an ordinance, the government will only need cabinet's nod and Lieutenant Governor's approval," the source said.