Covid-19: Intervention Plea In Supreme Court Seeks Transparency Regarding Availability Of Hospital Beds, Oxygen & Essentials Drugs

The intervention, filed by transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj, highlights the need for verified, updated information on availability of beds and distribution of oxygen, especially during the ongoing COVID pandemic.

The plea states that many people have lost their lives due to inability to secure a hospital bed or oxygen facility in a timely manner and there are innumerable reports of people succumbing outside hospitals waiting for beds or en route when they are running from one hospital to another searching for beds.

In this backdrop it is urged that if both Central and State Governments publish information on availability of these essentials for each COVID designated hospital on a regular basis, then citizens will be able to secure timely and effective medical treatment.

"It is crucial that credible, accurate and up-to-date information about the availability and utilisation of hospital beds, oxygen supply and essential drugs be made available in the public domain

Availability of this information will not only help COVID affected patients and their families in locating life-saving resources in a timely manner, but will also prevent black marketing, hoarding, extortion and cornering of resources by vested interests by enabling public monitoring," the plea states.

It is urged that information should be proactively disclosed by the concerned authorities in the public domain, in both online and off-lines modes and in such form, manner and language that it is most accessible to people.

The applicant suggests:

• Information regarding hospital-wise availability of beds must be updated once every eight hours and it must be ensured that the websites do not require any login credentials to view this information.
• The boards outside hospitals must be placed in an area where public can easily view the information.
• The criteria, if any, being used by hospitals to determine eligibility for admission must also be displayed on the boards outside hospital and on the websites as well.
• Information regarding availability of essential drugs held by each hospital must be updated once every twelve hours
• Information regarding supply of oxygen to states must be provided on a dedicated website by the Central Government indicating the amount of oxygen required by each state, the date and time of when the request was made and the details of quantity of oxygen supplied including the date and time of the supply.

The applicant is being represented by Advocate Prashant Bhushan.