Scenes of confusion at city hospitals
Around 270 to 280 patients are admitted at the hospital but we are unable to accept payment from them because most have ₹500 or ₹1,000 notes. We have asked them to pay tomorrow when the bank opens.
Receiving treatment, buying medicines or even food at stalls in and around hospitals was a problem for patients across Delhi, with ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes being de-monitised from Tuesday midnight.
“Around 270 to 280 patients are admitted at the hospital but we are unable to accept payment from them because most have ₹500 or ₹1,000 notes. We have asked them to pay tomorrow when the bank opens. However, the real problem is with the emergency patients,” said Dr Anand Bansal, medical director of Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute and Action Cancer Hospital.
“It is a very good initiative by the government, but they should have given a longer deadline for emergency services,” he said.
Though the Centre authorised government hospitals to accept ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes, the order does not apply to private ones.
To deal with the chaos, Fortis has put in more staff and help desks to assist patients and ensure that emergency patients receive immediate medical care.
“We have made an urgent representation to the government that the exemption (of accepting ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes) should apply to private hospitals,” a statement from the hospital said.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) announced that it will not be charging patients coming to the out-patient department for two days – November 10 and 11 – if the cumulative bill is less than ₹500.
However, patients going even to the government centres to buy medicines were refused if they could not offer change.
“I had to buy diabetes medicines that cost ₹132. I was refused at the Amrit store,” said Munna Alam, a patient.
Amrit store is a public-private partnership initiative of the union health ministry to make medicines available at discounted rates.
“I just want a paracetamol. I was unable to buy a strip from any of the shops around because everyone wants change” said Raj Singh Rathore, whose wife is ill.
Some even remained hungry through the day. “We came here early morning from Budaun. We had ₹500 notes and nobody accepted it. None of us ate till the evening, when we got ₹200 in change from the pharmacy. Even they were not taking it, so we had to buy extra doses to make a ₹300 bill,” said Asib, whose daughter is undergoing treatment at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.