Three in four people think govt hospitals are corrupt: Report

NEW DELHI:

Three in four people think corruption is rampant in government hospitals and more than one in two wouldn’t go to a government hospital at all, a recent online survey has found.

UnlikemanyEuropeancountries, government-run hospitals inIndiaarenotthefirstchoicefor thepatients’duetotheirlethargic services and large crowds.

LocalCircles— a citizen engagementplatform,conducted a set of polls to understand the perception the citizens have of the government hospitals in India. The polls received more than 32,000 votes. A part of the poll asked people the primary reasonwhytheywenttogovernment hospitals, and merely 15% saidtheytrustedthemmorethan private hospitals. Of those surveyed, 16% said they preferred a governmenthospitalduetotheir low costs. However, a significantly large 65% said they do not go to government hospitals atall. Onbeingaskedhowthingscould beimproved,41%peoplesaidcorruptioncanbereducedmostlyby strengthening of the state government’s anti-corruption unit, 18% said that it could be done by privatising public hospitals, 29% said making electronic procurement for supplies mandatory could help and 12% were unsure about the solutions.