IAS-IPS team orders private hospital to return advances of Rs 30 lakh to Covid patients
Harsh Gupta-D Roopa duo unearth bed scam at SSNMC Hospital
BENGALURU:
One of the seven IAS-IPS combo teams, set up by Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar to monitor Covid treatment by private Bengaluru hospitals, has actually delivered!
The team of IAS officer Harsh Gupta and IPS officer D Roopa spent nearly two hours in a private city hospital and ensured that advances of around Rs 30 lakh were returned to the patients.
The Gupta-Roopa team has been tasked with monitoring 3 hospitals — BGS Global Institute of Medical Sciences and Hospital in Kengeri, Rajarajeshwari Medical College and Hospital on Mysore Road, and SSNMC Super Speciality Hospital in HBCS Layout of Rajarajeshwari Nagar.
On Thursday night, the duo visited SSNMC Hospital and were shocked to learn that the hospital management had collected nearly Rs 30 lakh as advance payments from around 24 patients for Covid treatment.
The hospital belongs to BR Shetty, the NRI whose assets have been seized by the UAE central bank.
As per sources, Gupta had done his homework before visiting the hospital. He spoke to the attendants of some patients and was shocked to learn of the demands of the hospital management.
The most glaring example was that a youth whose parents are both infected — the father is in the ICU and the mother is in an HDU (high dependency unit) at the hospital. He has a salary of just Rs 15,000 a month, but was forced to deposit Rs 2.5 lakh and was told by the management to arrange for another Rs 5 lakh.
Govt of Karnataka has fixed limits of rates fr charging covid patients by hospitals. To ensure this, I along with HarshGupta IAS &our team,visited a hospital by surprise, spoke to admitted patients on phone,found discrepancies. Hospital has agreed to refund excess amount charged. https://t.co/pooFpovqJ4 pic.twitter.com/P85DIrwhVi
— D Roopa IPS (@D_Roopa_IPS) July 23, 2020
Hospital hid bed numbers
The Rs 30 lakh advances were for beds which were meant for government referrals but had been shown as the hospital’s own quota.
During the inspection, the duo learnt that the hospital was charging Rs 20,000 per day as against the state government’s prescribed Rs 10,000 per day.
SSNMC Hospital has 120 beds, out of which it should have reserved 60 for government-referred Covid cases. But the hospital management had hidden the information and kept 40 Covid beds for themselves (under the private quota), while it had allotted only 18 beds to the government.
Similarly, it has around 24 ICU beds out of which it should have kept 12 ICU beds for government referrals, but it set aside only 6 for the purpose.
Gupta immediately ordered the hospital management to hand over the 60 beds, including the 12 ICU beds, to the state government for referred Covid patients.
Solitary example
The Gupta-Roopa team’s success in making one hospital toe the government’s line raises the question of why the other 6 constituted teams haven’t delivered results as yet, considering that the SSNMC case cannot be an isolated one.
Again, though the contact numbers of the 7 teams and supporting officers from BBMP, BWSSB and BESCOM have been published in the media, in reality the mobile numbers are either not answered or are not reachable.
My team,with enforcement minded HarshGuptaIAS,has ensured that govt rates are followed by hospitals.Painstakingly,nodal officer Ashok Gowda,AEE,has collected details of 22 patients overcharged. Their bank a/c no taken. Amount of 24lacs as in pic, will be remitted back to patients pic.twitter.com/4GztrfeJJU
— D Roopa IPS (@D_Roopa_IPS) July 24, 2020
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