BSES Hospital gets MCGM notice for violation of norms

The BSES Hospital at Andheri (W) has been recently served with a show cause notice by the municipal corporation which has said that the administration has violated several terms of agreement between them and that action will be taken if corrective steps are not taken.

However, the hospital administration has strongly reacted to this notice and said that they have not violated any terms of agreement and are giving every kind of medical care to poor and needy patients.

Municipal sources said that the BSES Hospital had been constructed on land given by corporation and this was done as per an agreement signed between them. This agreement was signed in April 2002 and along with other conditions, it said that 40% of OPD patients and 33% of the indoor patients should be given medical treatment as per the municipal rates. The purpose of this agreement was that all varieties of medical services and facilities must also be made available to the poor patients since they are not able to afford treatment at a private hospital.

However, a surprise visit by some municipal officials revealed that the poor and needy patients were being charged at a higher rate than the rates prescribed for them. This is contrary to the norms of agreement and this was happening even for investigations like CT Scan, X ray, pathology and blood bank. And contrary to municipal norms, patients at this hospital are also being charged for consumables like cotton, syringes and needles, sources said.

Also, patients coming to the BSES Hospital were being made to buy medicines from the hospital medical store which is selling them at higher rates, a municipal official said. Along with this, poor patients are being forced to get admitted to the paying wards even when there are vacant beds available in the reserved municipal ward. Even the super speciality services are being given to the patients at a rate that is higher than the agreed rates, which is in violation of the agreement between the hospital management and the municipal corporation.

Responding to this, Dr Ashok Mehta, medical director of the BSES Hospital, denied that they have forced the patients to buy medicines from their medical stores. “Is it possible for us to go behind the patient and see where he is buying the medicines from? And moreover our medicines are not expensive compared to other medical stores,” he asserted.

Also, the hospital has made every possible effort to provide treatment to the poor and needy patients. “The same is also true during night hours, but if there are no beds vacant at that time there is nothing that the administration can do about this,” he pointed out. There is a dedicated social worker in the hospital, who goes through the necessary documents needed to admit poor patients and they are given all medical services and facilities as per the agreement, Dr Mehta said.

The hospital has also clarified that the agreement only talks of medical services and facilities to be provided to the poor patients and that this does cover consumable items. “It is simply not possible to provide medicines to the patients since this would make it impossible to run the hospital,” he said.