Lack of awareness hurting AAP scheme to arrange free surgeries and tests for patients at private hospitals, finds The New Indian Express. (Photo | EPS)
Lack of awareness hurting AAP scheme to arrange free surgeries and tests for patients at private hospitals, finds The New Indian Express. (Photo | EPS)

Lack of awareness hurts AAP scheme of free surgeries at Delhi's private hospitals

As part of the scheme, state-run hospitals in Delhi would be able turn surgeries over to private healthcare facilities if they fail to set dates for them within 30 days.

Shabnam, a 26-year-old homemaker in Delhi’s Burari, didn’t know what hit her when she experienced a sharp burst of pain on the left side of her stomach. Baffled and, need one say, a tad anxious, she confided in her husband. Before long, the couple came calling at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital, a government-run healthcare facility in the national capital.

However, neither Shabnam nor her husband had any clue who to meet and consult for her condition in a hospital, which records a footfall of anywhere close to Rs 5,000 or upwards on any given day.

“I visited LNJP in mid-July for some medical tests. I had been diagnosed with stones in her kidney and needed to be wheeled in for surgery at the earliest. However, the date for surgery was set three months later. I had already lost a month and could barely afford getting the surgery done at a private hospital,” the 26-year-old homemaker told this newspaper.

She said on one of their visits to the hospital, her eyes fell on a notice on a display board in the OPD section. It said surgeries scheduled after a month could be turned over to private hospitals free of cost.

“As we enquired about this scheme, we were told it will enable my surgery to be conducted at a private hospital free of cost. I was referred to Saroj Super Specialty hospital where my surgery was performed successfully within four days. They did not charge a penny, not even for the bed. This is an especially good scheme for people belonging to middle and lower-income groups, who can’t afford a visit to a private hospital in the event of a medical emergency at home,” Shabnam said.

AAP’s health plan
The healthcare policy in question was fashioned and introduced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in 2017, as part of which state-run hospitals would be able turn surgeries over to private healthcare facilities if they fail to set dates for them within 30 days. What’s more, the surgeries would be performed free of charge. Named ‘Quality Healthcare for All’, the scheme was introduced as part of an amendment to the existing DAK scheme.

Under the scheme, which was rolled out after the Lieutenant Governor gave his nod to the amendment in 2018, the income threshold to availing the benefits had been overcome.

The scheme, which applies only to permanent residents of the national capital, enables the beneficiaries to avail specified high-end diagnostic (radiological) tests and surgeries free of cost at top private hospitals, if the procedures are delayed for a month and beyond.

Although the L-G had advised the government to retain a certain “income ceiling”, Kejriwal was quoted as saying that the income criteria, if enforced, would practically “kill” the scheme.

When govt made it happen
Arun Kumar, a 56-year-old resident of Dwarka, had been spending anxious moments as the LNJP couldn’t set an early date for his surgery. Kumar, who first visited the LNJP for his condition in early August, eventually had his surgery done at MGS hospital.

“Let alone surgery, I couldn’t even imagine going to a private hospital for a medical check-up. Hence, I have words to express my gratitude for the Delhi government, which made it happen. However, I believe the government should do more to make medical care at private hospitals more accessible to people like me. Government hospitals are often too crowded,” Kumar said.

Asked when and how he got to know of the scheme, Kumar said Dwarka (AAP) MLA Adarsh Shastri often brought up the scheme during community meetings and he bought into it after being made aware of the assured benefits.

“When I saw that the date for my surgery had been set two months later, I straightaway headed to the room mentioned in the notice board and asked to enrolled in the scheme. My surgery was performed within four days,” Kumar said.

Are people aware?
While aimed at taking quality healthcare to the margins of the city and bringing the needy under medical coverage, the scheme appears to be failing when it comes to making the targeted beneficiaries aware of it. While government hospitals are dotted with enough hoardings and promotional material, announcing the scheme, not many of patients who dot the corridors in any given day, take notice of it.

To get a sense of the extent to which people and the hospital staff are informed about the scheme, this correspondent did the rounds of some government hospitals. Majority of patients queued for surgeries or medical tests said they had no idea about this scheme.

“We seldom receive patients, who are informed about the scheme. Most are referred by their doctors after not being able to set early dates for surgeries or medical procedures. We then take it upon ourselves to make the patients’ kin understand the benefits,” said an official of a government hospital.

This is a welcome move to take quality medical care to the common man. Since putting in place a whole new infrastructure at government hospitals is an expensive and time-consuming process, it makes much better sense if the government and private hospitals can come together through such schemes,” Chandrakant Lahariya, a public health specialist, told this newspaper.

Smooth ride for patients?

However, along with the beneficiaries, there are those living with a sense of regret after buying into the scheme. Fifty-eight-year-old Kamla Devi, who had stones removed from her kidney at a private hospital earlier this year, said she was charged for bed and other facilities despite being a signed beneficiary of the scheme.

“I was told that while the surgery was free, I was charged for expenses and for the bed, medicines and other tests. We’ve written to the CM, seeking his intervention in the matter. Let’s see what happens,” Lalji, Kalpana’s husband, said.

Advocate and activist Ashok Aggarwal, who helps patients, especially those belonging to economically weaker sections and Below Poverty Line, said limiting the scheme to Delhi residents is a major drawback.

“Those availing the scheme have little or no knowledge about the benefits it holds. Hence, I wouldn’t say that this scheme is a hugely successful one,” he said.
 

Not without chinks
More than 30 government hospitals are empanelled under the scheme. Some officials associated with private healthcare said payment from the Delhi government for surgeries and medical procedures is often not received on time.

“Whenever, we go to submit the bills, government officials claim the papers are not in order. They have even been rude to us,” an official of a private hospital said.

Nimmi Rastogi, advisor to Health Minister Satyendar Jain said, “Eighty-five per cent of bills are cleared as soon as they are submitted.”

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