Mixed reactions to Delhi govt advisory: Norms for private hospitals
New Delhi: The draft advisory from the Delhi government on proposed new norms for private hospitals and nursing homes has drawn a mixed response from private facilities and health experts, with some welcoming the move and others saying the measures "need legal vetting".
Private hospitals in the city said they will engage with the government on the matter and provide them their views.
"The advisory from the Delhi government is quite harsh from the perspective of private healthcare services providers based in Delhi.
We are in the process of studying the document in detail and will be engaging with the government in a constructive manner," a spokesperson of the Max Healthcare group said in a statement.
The proposals in the draft advisory include capping of profit made on drugs and consumables by private hospitals in the national capital, and provisions wherein they "cannot hold hostage" bodies of patients, who have died during the treatment there, even if families are unable to pay the due bills before the last rites.
The draft also proposes the doctors at private hospitals and nursing homes preferably prescribe drugs from the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) and patients be consulted before administering drugs in the non-NLEM category.
"The draft has been put in public domain, inviting suggestions and objections for a period of 30 days. After that, we will implement the policy with revisions,"
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain told reporters on Monday, while announcing the draft advisory. A senior official of another leading private hospital, on condition of anonymity, said, "We are yet to receive the draft advisory.
But, comments would be provided to the government."
Queries to the Fortis Hospital group did not elicit any response so far.
The draft advisory has been prepared on the basis of recommendations of a nine-member expert panel, headed by Director-General of Health Services Kirti Bhushan.
It was set up by the Arvind Kejriwal government on December 13 last year, after allegations of excessive charges and unfair employment practices by a few private facilities were reported.
Usha Manjunath, Director, Institute of Health Management and Research (IIHMR), Bangalore, said a government's role in regulating quality of healthcare, functioning of private hospitals and pricing structure is "critical" and the draft policy was "welcome".
"According to the information available, the committee by Delhi government was formed following a series of meetings held by the health minister with various professional and regulatory organisations," she said.
Hence, the proposed restrictions on profit margins from medicines and consumables to not more than 50 percent "may be acceptable to private players".
However, the challenges are in implementation, regulation and taking punitive actions on the defaulters, Manjunath said.
According to him, at this point it is not clear how this would impact operational costs and cost of human resources of the hospitals.
The Campaign for Dignified and Affordable Healthcare, a forum of patients and families, civil society groups and health experts, which advocates strengthening regulation in the private healthcare sector and reforms to ensure ethical, respectful treatment of patients, gave a mixed response to the proposals.
"We welcome the proposed measures to lower the costs of treatment and bring more transparency and accountability to private healthcare services in Delhi.
Indeed, they are progressive in intent and signal a paradigmatic shift in governmental thinking," it said in a statement on Tuesday.
"But we are afraid, the measures need further careful consideration and legal vetting to ensure they do not get stuck in courts.
"The proposals have some merit, but we do not see high prospects of them succeeding.
Nonetheless, we are hopeful that there will be engagement with consumer and patient groups through a consultative process and look forward to participating," the forum said.