High Court Seeks Delhi Govt's Stand On Constitution Of Committee To Examine Medical Infrastructure In Govt Hospitals

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the stand of the Delhi Government on the constitution of a committee of doctors to examine the overall condition and medical infrastructure of the government hospitals here.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora asked the Delhi Government's counsel to obtain instructions on the appointment of the committee and said that some directions may be issued by following the advice and solution suggested by the doctors.

The bench was dealing with a suo motu PIL initiated in 2017 concerning the issue of the availability of ICU beds and ventilator facilities in the government hospitals here.

Earlier, the court had directed the Delhi Government to disclose the amount it has been spending on augmenting the health sector in the last five years. It had also asked the city government to file a status report indicating as to how it plans to ensure that the medical infrastructure keeps pace with the city's population.

During the hearing today, the Delhi Government's counsel, Advocate Satyakam, told the court that the government plans to start four new hospitals here with a total of 3237 beds and the same will be made operational in the next two to three years.

The court was also informed that the government further plans to increase 5000 beds in the existing medical infrastructure of the government hospitals.

The counsel said that while money has never been a problem for the Delhi Government and health has been a top priority, but the real problem is that it does not have people to man the said hospitals.

To this, the court remarked: “But in court you keep telling us you have no money. Today only you are saying there is money, till yesterday you were saying there is no money.”

The court also said that it wants to help the Delhi Government in fixing the existing medical infrastructure in the government hospitals but it won't be able to do so if a correct picture is not presented before the court.

It further said that while the data presented by the Delhi Government showed that the CT scan machines in the hospitals were working, the ground reality was different and that people are being denied admissions.

“You must tell us the correct facts. The ground reality is that patients are being denied admissions. From your status report, everything seems honky dory,” the court remarked.

The court impleaded the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) and GNCTD (Services) department as respondents in the matter.

The court also permitted the Delhi Government to file an additional affidavit in the matter and listed it for hearing next on Monday.

Recently, an application was filed by Amicus Curiae, Advocate Ashok Aggarwal, highlighting a recent incident wherein a man, who was seriously injured after jumping from a moving PCR van, died after being refused medical treatment at four government hospitals (two Delhi Government and two Central Government hospitals).

The bench had then expressed concern over the lack of medical infrastructure to treat critical care patients and asked the Delhi Government why the infrastructure is not keeping pace with the demand.

It had also directed the Delhi Government to explore the feasibility of setting up a central portal indicating on a real-time basis the number and nature of beds available in all hospitals in the city.

Previously, the court had directed the hospitals managed by the Central Government to operate a Control Room for providing information about the availability of beds with ventilator facilities, by notifying the phone numbers of the Control Room through public notice in the print media and web portal.

Title: COURT ON ITS OWN MOTION v. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.