Plea In Delhi High Court Seeks Mandatory Displaying Of Covid-19 Beds, Facilities On Boards Outside Hospitals, Says Govt App Gives Inaccurate Info

The petitioner states that as a nursing officer she has been actively involved on the frontline and hence is "aware of the difficulties faced by patients and medical professionals in hospitals."

Referring to a news report by The New Indian Express dated Apr 19, the petitioner submits that the "cases of denial of beds by many hospitals in Delhi to patients who were in a critical state and needed immediate medical attention" has been sufficiently brought to light.

Highlighting for the court to take note of the fact that the "demand for hospital beds and oxygen cylinders has increased like never before", and that media reports and reports of fellow medical professionals suggest that patients are lying in queues outside many hospitals for getting beds, the petitioner has prayed that it be made mandatory to display outside hospitals on display boards, information regarding beds, ventilators and oxygen. Further, a prayer for daily monitoring of the situation in every hospital of the city has also been made.

The petitioner has further stated that the mobile application by the Delhi Government does not display information corroborating with the actual factual scenario on ground and therefore the need for such display boards is even more compulsive.

The petitioner said that such a circular is already effective in Karnataka and that though some direction to this effect was passed by Delhi earlier, it is not being strictly complied with by the hospitals.