aarogya.com
  • Home
  • Complementary Medicine
    • Ayurveda
    • Homeopathy
    • Naturopathy
    • Acupressure
    • Acupuncture
    • Aromatherapy
    • Batch Flower Remedies
    • Home Remedies
    • Massage
    • Yoga
    • Meditation
    • Reiki
    • Bodywork
    • Medical Palmistry
  • Conditions & Diseases
    • Acute Diarrheal Disease
    • Appendicitis
    • Blindness
    • Brucellosis
    • Chicken Pox
    • Conjunctivitis
    • Dysentery
    • Hookworm
    • Japanese Encephalitis
    • Lymphatic Filariasis
    • Plague
    • Rubella
    • Typhoid Fever
    • Yellow Fever
    • Allergy
    • Arthritis
    • Blood Pressure
    • Computer Health Hazards
    • Chikungunya Fever
    • Dengue
    • Guinea Worm
    • Influenza
    • Leprosy
    • Malaria
    • Poliomyelitis
    • Tetanus
    • Whooping Cough
    • Viral Hepatitis
    • Amebiasis
    • Asthma
    • Bronchitis
    • Diagnostic Tests
    • Cholera
    • Diphtheria
    • Hepatitis
    • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
    • Leptospirosis
    • Measles
    • Rabies
    • Tuberculosis
    • Yaws
  • Family Health
    • Children's Health
    • Diet & Nutrition
    • First Aid
    • Fitness
    • Humor & Trivia
    • Men's Health
    • Preventive Health
    • Senior's Health
    • Senior Citizen Corner
    • Teen’s Health
    • Vets and Pets
    • Women’s Health
  • Health Resources
    • Blood Donation
    • Career Opportunities
    • Daily Health Tips
    • Health Programs
    • Featured Hospitals
    • Medical Education
    • Health Professional's Negligence
    • Medical Tourism
    • Video Eye
    • Rural Health
    • Patients' Rights Forum
  • Insurance
    • Euthanasia
    • Health Insurance
    • Health Insurance Policies
    • Insurance Companies
    • Medical Ethics
    • Medical Jurisprudence
    • Research
    • Telemedicine
    • Compare Health Insurance
  • Sex & Sexuality
    • What is Sex & Sexuality?
    • FAQs
    • Marriage & Pregnancy
    • Sex Education
  • Support Groups
    • Addiction
    • Aids
    • Cancer
    • Epilepsy
    • Swine Flu
    • Blood Search
    • Vivah
    • Health Directory
    • Alzheimer's Disease
    • Medical Support Groups
    • Cardiology
    • Depression
    • Depression Screening Test
    • Diabetes
    • Disability
    • Kidney
    • Obesity
    • Pregnancy
    • Schizophrenia
    • Vitiligo
Aarogya.com
Marathi | Gujarati | Register | Login
  • Home
  • News and Updates
  • Year 2010
  • Crisis In Critical Care

Crisis In Critical Care

  • Print
Details
Hits: 3190
Times of India
14 April 2010
Kolkata, India

Despite SC Ruling, Accident Victims Are Often Refused Treatment
(Top) The rampage at Peerless Hospital. The mob fury was triggered by an alleged refusal to treat an accident victim; (above) a police patrol in front of the hospital to restore law and order (Top) The rampage at Peerless Hospital. The mob fury was triggered by an alleged refusal to treat an accident victim, (above) a police patrol in front of the hospital to restore law and order
Less than 20% of critically injured patients in Kolkata receive treatment within an hour of sustaining injury, considered the most crucial period in such cases. Nearly a half are refused treatment and forced to shift elsewhere, losing valuable time and risking death. This, despite a Supreme Court ruling and a state health department circular that prohibits hospitals from refusing seriously injured or ill patients.

Peerless Hospital, that allegedly refused to admit a 13–year–old girl injured in an accident on E M Bypass, is apparently not the only one guilty of turning away critical patients. There are several other private facilities that routinely flout the norm and ask for a deposit before admitting critical patients.

A month back, a hospital had allegedly refused a train accident victim, who had to be shifted to a private hospital on E M Bypass but didn’t survive. Another private hospital had refused to treat a bleeding patient till his family produced money.

The health department claimed their hands were tied by the law. “Unfortunately, the Clinical Establishments Act doesn’t allow us to either monitor or penalize erring private hospitals. We are in the process of moving a bill to set up a monitoring system that will help curb this inhuman practice,” said Aniruddha Kar, director, health services.

Police, however, claim that refusals have dropped following the health department directive. “We advise all ambulances to carry a copy of the Supreme Court order and show it to the hospital authorities if necessary. The police has made it clear that no critical patient can be turned away or forced to pay before treatment has commenced. Even though it is difficult, we do keep a vigil on hospitals that has a record of refusals,” said DC (traffic) Dilip Banerjee.

Following the health department directive, several private hospitals had laid down a norm. Under it, critical patients were to be taken in immediately and resuscitated, irrespective of the availability of beds and without asking for payment. If the patient recovered enough to be shifted, an option was to be given to the family to either get him admitted or move him to another hospital. “Most have stuck to the practice, but refusals still happen. Hospitals still ask for payment even before the patient has been taken in or attended to. Many are still forced to move to government hospitals and die on the way,” said Arijit Bose, an expert in critical care.

Ruby Hospital, that had come under the scanner for allegedly refusing injured patients several years ago, was among the first to set up a trauma care unit. A five–member team, including a critical care consultant, neuro–surgeon and orthopaedic surgeon, are on duty round the clock. The hospital claims it has never refused a patient in the last six years. “We don’t ask for money till the patient is out of danger. In many cases, we end up losing money, as the patients’ families can’t afford to foot the bill or even pay for diagnostic tests. But we are ready to bear the loss on humanitarian grounds. Also, we can’t flout the health department directive,” said the CEO, S B Purakayastha.

AMRI, Salt Lake is another institution that has often been accused of refusal. The hospital authorities, however, claimed it has made amends. “Nearly 40% of our patients fall in the critical category and there has been no complaint,” said T S Kukreja, director.

Apollo Gleneagles, too, has a dedicated trauma care team comprising more than 30 doctors. This includes orthopaedics, reconstructive surgeons, emergency physicians and neurosurgeons. “Hospitals with emergency units can’t refuse trauma victims. We have augmented our trauma care facilities over the years. Following the norms, we never ask for payment before the patient has been resuscitated,” said Rupali Basu, the CEO.

Even as the situation is improving, experts said that the facilities on offer are insufficient, considering the number of accidents that happen in Kolkata. “Barring a few private and government hospitals, trauma care facilities are nonexistent. Patients’ families are still armtwisted for money,” said Bose.

Disclaimer: The news story on this page is the copyright of the cited publication. This has been reproduced here for visitors to review, comment on and discuss. This is in keeping with the principle of ‘Fair dealing’ or ‘Fair use’. Visitors may click on the publication name, in the news story, to visit the original article as it appears on the publication’s website.

0
Introducing Digital Practice for Doctors & Healthcare professionals
Swine Flu
National Award for Outstanding achievement by a Non-Professional - Tushar Sampat
Health Professional's Negligence
Health Professional's Negligence
Records of published articles in the newspapers helps common people about precautions to be taken while seeking the services from health professionals and also helps health professionals to rectify the negligence.
read more…
Specialties
Common Symptoms


Aarogya Network

aarogya.com aims to be India’s leading comprehensive health information portal. The site has sections, which cover almost all the medical specialties and give useful information on various diseases. To enhance its reach, the content is available in Indian languages too. We were the first health website to introduce online support groups. Addiction support and Epilepsy support are examples of some very active and vibrant communities.

» Click here to see all our support groups

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

 Get health related new information.

Pune Aarogya
Digital Media Dedicated to Healthcare of Punekars

Health Tools

  • Health Directory
  • Message Board
  • Health Calculators
  • Depression Screening Test

About Aarogya.com

aarogya.com aims to be India’s leading comprehensive health information portal. The site has sections, which cover almost all the medical specialties

Read more...

Suggestions

This is YOUR site, so if you have suggestions or feedback on how we can improve it for you, please let us know! We do our best to keep up!

Read more...

User Comments

“My name is Paulette Conners and I just had to send you an email thanking you since one of the pages on your site was very helpful!”

  • About Us
  • Company Profile
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Feedback
  • Disclaimer
  • Sitemap
  • Invite Your Friends

© 2017 www.aarogya.com. All Rights Reserved.