Delhi High Court Questions Government Over Shortage of Doctors in Hospitals
“Judges will come, judges will go, but the hospitals have to function," Justice Singh said.
Delhi High Court lashes out at Delhi government for inaction towards recruitment of required qualified doctors and staff at government hospitals
On Friday, a Delhi High Court bench slammed Delhi government as it failed to recruit qualified doctors and staff in government hospitals for working the equipment.
"You recruit staff and doctors to work those equipments. Judges will come, judges will go, but the hospitals have to function." the bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora observed.
Pointing out the government's lackadaisical attitude towards recruitment, the Court said that "...without technicians to run those equipments. The court is completely dissatisfied with the report placed on record."
"There are no technicians running these equipments. The court is completely dissatisfied with the report placed on record. The hospitals are facing enormous difficulty in recruiting the necessary doctors and the staff. There is no uniform HR policy of the Delhi Government," the Court added.
“It does not appear that after the meeting had taken place on August 13, any recruitment has happened,” the Court said and went on to note that,
“This has led to some equipments lying unused.”
The Court added that it has now directed Secretary (Health) to conduct a fresh meeting with each hospital with regard to recruitment issues.
"The Secretary, Health would have to deal with this issue in a centralised manner rather than allowing recruitment at a local level on a contractual basis. A strict timeline has to be prescribed in a centralised manner even for recruitment on a contractual basis, failing which the hospitals do not seem to be recruiting the necessary staff," the Delhi High Court said.
It may be noted that the Delhi High Court was hearing a suo motu case where it keeps a check on healthcare services being provided at government hospitals of Delhi. Earlier on August 7, the High Court expressed shock when told that 400 ventilators and 910 oxygen concentrators lying unused at Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital.
The Court had then directed Secretary of the Department of Health and Family Welfare under the Delhi government to conduct a meeting regarding recruitment of staff to operate such equipment.
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Yesterday, during the matter's hearing, the Court was informed that hardly any progress had been made since then.
The High Court continued on to say that it feels there are varying interpretations by hospitals regarding what constitutes unused equipments at hospitals. The bench said it would hear arguments on such issues later but added that recruitment needed to be dealt with on priority basis.
"First we have to focus on the staff, then we have to focus on the equipment. Otherwise, it is not going to work," Justice Singh clarified.
The court then turned to discussing the availability of ICU beds and if citizens are aware if such facilities. The bench observed that beds aren't even available at premier hospitals.
Standing counsel for Delhi government Sameer Vashisht informed the court that the Delhi government has provided a toll-free helpline number - 102 - to Delhi residents to check bed availability.
Acting upon Justice Singh's request, a Delhi government officer called the helpline number during the court's proceedings. When there was no response from the attendant on the other end, the Court inquired as to how many operators were manning the helpline number.
"We have 30 phone lines and we have 30 operators working," the Assistant Revenue Secretary informed the Court.
The Court was also informed that the total calls received on the helpline are approximately 2,200.
"This is not sufficient. Delhi is 3.5 crores. This is not sufficient. Imagine emergency me log phone kare jaa rahe hain and phone hi nahi mil raha (Imagine someone calling in an emergency and no one picks up)," the Delhi High Court said.
The High Court added,
"the Secretary will speak to the Home Department and see if the number of operators need to be increased. If the lines need to be increased and operators also, a feedback shall be given to the Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department. Let a status report be filed in this regard."
Delhi government counsel informed the bench that they have appointed a referral coordinator who will help patients when referred to another government hospital.
"We would need at least three coordinators, not only one," the bench added.
