After RTI, 2 private hospitals release EWS patients' details

Times of India: Gurgaon: Saturday, 13 September 2014.

After a yearlong wait, two city-based super-speciality hospitals have finally responded to an RTI and released a list of patients belonging to the economically weaker section (EWS) treated in the past six months this year.

HUDA had allotted private hospitals Artemis and Medanta land at concessional rates, on condition that 20% of patients they treat in their respective OPDs would be for free, while the same percentage of patients who are admitted would get a 70% discount.

To verify whether these hospitals adhere to the rules specified in the agreement, a city-based activist had filed an RTI on September 14, 2013. When he failed to get a reply, he filed his first appeal on November 9 the same year. When there was no response to that, he sent his appeal to the state information commissioner, who, in June this year, ordered that the hospitals are bound to share the information.

The hospitals' defence was that as private bodies, they are not bound by RTI. But the state information commissioner directed that "a private body need not be a public authority. Information can be accessed because of the terms and conditions of the agreement signed between the hospitals and HUDA".

The RTI application had sought information on the number of BPL and EWS patients treated and admitted six months prior to the filing of the RTI, along with the names of patients, ID numbers and expenditures booked in their names.

The activist, Aseem Takyar, is not satisfied with the responses. "They have just released a list of patients. They should tell us their exact addresses so that the data can be verified," he said.

Criticizing private hospitals for their apparent the aversion towards treating patients for free, he added, "The idea is to follow all rules and appoint a nodal officer for treating EWS patients. A proper board ought to be put up at the reception, mentioning the provision of free treatment for the poor. When a hospital is allotted a Rs 200-crore plot for Rs 40 crore, it is natural to expect it should fulfill its duty as enshrined in the agreement between it and HUDA."

An Artemis hospital spokesperson said that the hospital is following all rules and that a board notifying the availability of free treatment has also been put up. "Our hospital has a dedicated helpdesk for EWS patients," he said. The Medanta representative could not be contacted.