GB Pant hospital under scanner for ‘favouring’ patients, issue to be raised in Delhi Assembly

Officials said the issue will be raised in the next Delhi Assembly session, and that the health department has been told to submit its reply at the earliest.

“We have been asked to submit a report before the next Assembly session. We have sent the complaint to the hospital, asking them to respond to the allegations. Once they do, we will carry out further probe and submit our reply,” said Dr Kirti Bhushan, Director General of Health Services (DGHS), Delhi government.

This is not the first time the hospital has been pulled up by the government. In September, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had expressed anger over disposable sterile surgical gloves being supplied in a “torn” condition. He was apprised of the issue during the ‘Janta Samwaad’ at his residence in July, and had directed Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain to take strict action against officials found guilty.

“There is an urgent need to improve the existing system in the hospital to ensure transparency in surgery cases. We are planning to bring in a system so that details of surgeries can be made available online. There have been complaints about systematic failure in this particular hospital,” said Sanjeev Khirwar, secretary, health, Delhi government.

Senior officials in the department said many patients have been complaining about the hospital, and the department is strictly monitoring its functioning.

Previously, Delhi Minister Imran Hussain had also alleged that a patient was charged for a surgery in the CTVS department, which is free of cost in all government hospitals. A committee formed to investigate the matter had found gross irregularities in the department’s functioning.

“In 2016, the head of department had also raised suspicion over some doctors giving preference to a few patients,” said a senior doctor at the hospital. Sources in the department said the same complaint was forwarded to the L-G, who has suggested that a showcause notice be issued to officials involved.

“The inquiry is yet to be completed. The notice has not been issued to the officials. The panel which prepared the report has asked the secretary (Health) to take action against the doctors,” said another senior official.