Now, dial 104 to report fleecing by private hospitals

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Tribune News Service

Nawanshar, May 23

The cases of private hospitals fleecing patients have increased in Nawanshahr too. The district administration has announced that if any private hospital charges extra from Covid-19 patients, strict action will be taken against them.

Complaint in this regard could be lodged on the 104 helpline of the Health Department and at the office of the Deputy Commissioner.

Deputy Commissioner Dr Shena Aggarwal said if any hospital or doctor exploits patients suffering from Covid, action will be taken under the Epidemic Diseases Act. She said the government has the right to close or take control of such hospitals. “No private hospital would be allowed to take advantage of the patient’s compulsion. Our government and private doctors and para-medical staff have set a good example by serving the people diligently during these difficult times but there are some people in the system which are taking unfair advantage of the situation and deceiving the people. It was unfortunate that such people were tarnishing the image of the entire profession,” she said. The state and district-level committee would soon conduct a detailed audit of the treatment of Covid-19 patients by the private hospitals.

Meanwhile, the DC, Dr Shena Aggarwal, said service centres in the district have been providing uninterrupted services to the citizens in a better and safer environment even during the pandemic. She said the centers have provided services to 9,11,246 persons in a period of one year during Covid. He said that during the period from May 21 to May 20 this year, as many as 93,326 applications were received for various services in the service centres out of which 91,246 have been disposed of while the rest are under consideration. The DC said at present 17 Seva Kendras were providing services in the district.

She cleared that in order to avail any service from the service centers, it was now mandatory to get prior approval and no service was being provided to any applicant without prior approval and advance approval can be obtained by contacting the mobile app ‘M-Seva’, ‘Cova’, or by contacting the mobile numbers 8968593812 and 8968593813.