Private docs make anger public
UP IN ARMS Clinics, hospitals across B’luru down shutters in city wide strike to protest the govt’s proposed bill that fixes treatment prices and calls for creating a patients’ rights charter
Private clinics, diagnostic centres and hospitals were shut in Bengaluru on Thursday as doctors intensified their campaign against the government’s plans to put a ceiling on what they can charge and set up a disputes resolution authority.
The state high court was forced to intervene as 6,000 private medical establishments — barring emergency services — shut operations for the day. The court requested the doctors to end the strike, asking the government and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to find a solution.
Posting the matter for Friday morning, the bench of acting chief justice of the high court HG Ramesh and Dinesh Kumar said it was making a request based on “the interests of the people” and asked them to resolve the issue. Telling the counsel for IMA that doctors had a duty towards society, the bench asked them to look at the enormity of the problem.
At contention is Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which is yet to be tabled in the ongoing Assembly session. The bill proposes higher penalty for unregistered establishments, starting a process to cap treatment prices, a patients’ rights charter, and the formation of a new grievance redressal committee.
The medical fraternity has termed the provisions draconian.
“Capping of prices is not a good thing in a market economy,” said renowned nephrologist and chairman of Manipal Hospital, Dr Sudarshan Ballal.
He also called the patients’ rights charter unfair. “Patients’ rights should be the same whether it is private or government hospitals. We have to balance the convenience costs of patients with the sector’s future.”
Devi Shetty, founder and chairman of Narayana Hrudalaya, said the bill was an attack on the fraternity.
“The honour and prestige of the medical fraternity will be affected if the bill is passed.” He said there already exist about six forums for grievance redressal and another was not necessary.
Affordable healthcare in India has largely been the domain of the government that heavily subsidises hospitals and clinics. Access to private facilities is largely a reserve of people with greater income in a country where millions live in poverty.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah appealed to the doctors in a series of tweets to end their protest. “I met a group of doctors at Belagavi & assured them that govt will hear them before the bill is introduced again. I appealed to them to withdraw their strike. Yet, the strike is ongoing & continues to put people to inconvenience.”
He said the government was only amending the existing Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act, 2007, in public interest to provide for a grievance redressal mechanism, price control and a patients’ charter.
“When the bill is not introduced, when we are willing to talk to stakeholders, I am surprised by the unilateral decision of IMA to continue the strike [and] disrupt healthcare services. Once again, I request IMA to show responsibility, be true to the noble profession & talk to us,” the CM said.
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