Five hospitals barred from treating COVID-19 cases

Hyderabad: A day after Virinchi Hospital’s permission to treat COVID-19 patients was revoked, the state government on Saturday also barred five more private hospitals from admitting COVID-19 patients based on complaints from the public. So far the Telangana State Public Health and Family Welfare department’s director has taken the same action against 10 health care centres in Hyderabad.

According to a statement from Dr. G. Srinivasa Rao, director, Public Health and Family Welfare department, the five hospitals whose permission was revoked on Saturday are: Image Hospital (Ameerpet), Ankura Hospita (LB Nagar), Sia Life Hospital (Kondapur), Panchavati Hospital (Bhoothpur, Mahbubnagar) and Sai Siddartha Hospita (Shapur Nagar, Sanga Reddy).

The action taken against these hospitals was primarily with regard to complaints of excess and irrelevant charges in addition to the prescribed norms, mismanagement and lack of proper attention with regard to treating COVID-19 patients. The department has so far received a total of 115 complaints at different dates from the public which has led to the state government also issuing show cause notices to 79 hospitals. Aside from that, a total of 10 hospitals so far have had their permissions to treat COVID-19 patients revoked.

The director also warned that any hospital found guilty of violating established protocols, norms, and guidelines will be subjected to suitable disciplinary action. In Hyderabad and Telangana, ever since the onset of the ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 virus, bed hospitals have been charging patients exorbitant amounts, ranging between Rs.40000 to as much as Rs.1 lakh per day for a bed (depending on requirement for oxygen and ventilators).

A day earlier on May 28, the state government Friday revoked the permission of Virinchi Hospital at Banjara Hills to treat COVID-19 patients, after a complaint was filed against it for medical negligence by its doctors and staff, and for violating treatment protocols. The complaint was lodged by relatives of a man named Vamsi Krishna, who died there while undergoing treatment two days ago, after which some of his relatives ransacked the healthcare centre.

The order revoking Virinchi Hospital’s permission to treat COVID-19 patient was signed by Telangana’s Publuch Health and Family Welfare department director, who issued a show cause notice to the hospital after the complaint was lodged. “But, the hospital parties failed to submit any explanation to the show cause notice issued by this office regarding medical negligence in treating theCOVID-19 patient,” said the director’s order, dated May 28.