Admission rules eased for Covid-19 patients in UP

The state government on Thursday revised the rules for the admission of Covid-19 patients in government and private hospitals as well as government-run and private medical colleges.

Accordingly, private hospitals can now admit Covid-19 patients without a referral letter from the Covid command centre. But they will have to share the information immediately with the command centre and display the availability of beds publicly, the state government announced.

In an order issued here, additional chief secretary (medical health and family welfare) Amit Mohan Prasad said, “The amendment in admission process shall continue till June 30. The private hospitals will keep 10% of the total Covid beds for admission via Covid command centres.” In other words, 90% of the beds in private hospitals

have been reserved for direct admission.

Private hospitals will share the information immediately after admission with the command centre and update the same at 8am and 4pm, apart from displaying the same outside the hospital for common people to know.

Patients can reach private hospitals by their own arrangement but, if needed, the command centre shall make an ambulance available.

Private hospitals will charge only the prescribed fee from the patients.

At the government hospitals, medical colleges and private medical colleges, 70% of admission in Covid wards will be done via the command centre and 30% of the admission can be done on the basis of an emergency situation by the institutions.

These hospitals and medical colleges will also display the status of admission outside the campus/building.

All patients requesting free treatment will be admitted via the command centre, said the order. Inspections will be carried out to check if the Covid-19 treatment protocol is being followed.

With a surge in Covid-19 cases, the patients were facing hardship in getting beds in hospitals due to the bed allotment order under which the patient had to get registered at ICCC and obtain the referral letter from the chief medical officer (CMO) for admission in the government and private hospitals. The Opposition parties had slammed the state government over the issue. Even BJP MPs and MLAs had demanded revision of the bed allotment order. On Wednesday, the UP Human Rights Commission had directed the state government to revise the bed allotment order as people were being harassed.

Lucknow district magistrate Roshan Jacob had also sent a letter to ACS (medical health and family welfare) Amit Mohan Prasad, demanding revision of the order.

The district administration will set up counters to receive application for free admission in the government hospitals and medical colleges, he said.

The details of the beds in various categories of the private hospitals and rates will be published in the dailies.