Kannada DC warns private hospitals of medical negligence for refusing to admit Covid patients

Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner KV Rajendra has warned private hospitals of medical negligence case if they refuse to admit COVID patients or transfer them to another facility without any valid reasons further seeking to deliver the test reports of COVID suspects within two days of collecting the samples.

Also the instructions have been given to private facilities regarding the number of beds and the charges incurred per COVID test.

Explaining the new directions at a Covid-19 management coordination meeting, Dr Rajendra stated that some of the private hospitals take too much time to give the report of COVID test, and often the test reports arrive after one week. Under such circumstances, there remains a high chance of transmission of the of the disease. Hence, he instructed the hospitals to ensure that COVID test reports are delivered within two days so that the patient can be immediately isolated as per the standard protocols.

He also suggested that 50 per cent of the beds in private hospitals should be reserved for COVID patients. He has also instructed the hospitals not to deny admission to any COVID patient and if any such case comes forth, medical negligence case can be lodged against the hospital.

Moreover, the hospitals are allowed to charge only upto Rs. 800 over per COVID 19 test. The price cap should be strictly followed and the hospitals are barred from incurring any additional amount for COVID testing.