COVID PATIENTS’ ADMISSION: END REFERRAL LETTER SYSTEM, UPHRC TELLS STATE GOVT

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Human Rights Commission (UPHRC) directed the state government on Tuesday to review its decision related to compulsion of a referral letter from the CMO office or any other department for admission of Covid patients in hospitals and end this system. Doctors working in hospitals were competent enough to judge whether a patient needed immediate admission or not, said the UPHRC. They (doctors) did not need any referral letter for admission of such patients, added the commission.

At present, due to the referral letter system patients were not getting admission in hospitals, said the commission. The UPHRC directed the UP chief secretary to implement the directives of the commission by ending this referral letter system and apprise it within a week.

It may be pointed out that many cases were reported related with Covid patients being denied admission in hospitals as they could not get a referral letter from the CMO office or the Integrated Covid Command Centre. The UPHRC has received many complaints in this regard from the general public.

The UPHRC also directed government and private hospitals to display on their notice boards availability of Covid and nonCovid beds and how many were lying vacant. The commission pointed out that this practice would ensure transparency in admission of patients and help them in approaching the right hospital where there was availability of beds.

UP SECY ASKED TO IMPLEMENT THE DIRECTIVES OF THE COMMISSION BY ENDING THIS REFERRAL LETTER SYSTEM