New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Thursday asked the central and Delhi governments to take action against hospitals, under their respective administrations, that are not providing real-time updates about availability of beds for treating Covid-19 patients.
The high court bench, comprising Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan, was responding to a report and submissions made by amicus curiae Om Prakash in a suo motu petition initiated by the court on 26 May.
The court had taken cognisance of a video in which a Delhi resident says his Covid-19-positive mother was denied a bed and ventilator facilities at a private hospital.
Taking note of discrepancies in the capital’s Covid-19 management, as pointed out by Prakash, the bench asked both governments to appoint “dedicated officials” to ensure there was no communication gap between authorities and hospitals.
The central government submitted that it has appointed nodal officers in the hospitals which are under its administration.
The court asked the government lawyers: “Why are your officers not seeing the problems the way the amicus is seeing them?”
It then asked the governments to communicate their respective orders to the nodal officers and said authorities shouldn’t “feel shy in taking action against adamant or errant officers”.
“Either change your officer or we will do it,” the court observed, asserting that if no action was taken against such hospitals, all the money and efforts made by doctors and officials, as well as the various guidelines that have been issued will “go in vain”.
The case will next be heard on 16 July.
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‘App still does not show real time data’
In a report submitted to the court Wednesday, Prakash had pointed out that both governments have been “conveniently silent” on the availability of ambulances with ventilators and those with only oxygen facilities.
He also asserted that the Delhi Corona Mobile App still does not show the real time data on availability of beds and ventilators.
Prakash’s report notes that his office had contacted three hospitals — Saroj Hospital, GTB Hospital and RML Hospital — to check the availability of beds. While the app showed that beds were available at Saroj Hospital, Prakash’s office was told there weren’t any.
“There is either discrepancy in the data uploaded on the mobile app/website or the hospital did not provide the accurate information,” the report added.
When GTB and RML Hospitals were called up, no information was provided on the availability of beds.
Prakash, therefore, asked for updation of real time data on official platforms and raised concerns about the functioning of hospitals.
He also sought a direction to the governments to file details of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program register in the last 20 days. This, he said, would disclose daily admissions of Covid-19 positive patients, discharges and availability of beds on a real time basis.
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