PMJAY Irregularities: 2 Rajkot Hospitals face suspension, 2 others fined

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government, investigating hospitals violating norms under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) also known as Ayushman Bharat, has suspended two private hospitals in Rajkot and imposed penalties on one hospital each in Bharuch and Vadodara.

The government on Tuesday suspended two private hospitals from providing services under a joint Centre-state health scheme and imposed fines on two others after finding they had committed irregularities in implementation of the flagship programme.

The government suspended two hospitals and slapped fines on two others, one of them with nearly Rs 3 crore, empanelled under the scheme after it came to light last week that they were committing irregularities in implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana-Mukhyamantri Amrutum (PMJAY-MA), said an official release.

According to the PTI report, following detection of irregularities in execution of the scheme, the government has prepared a new set of guidelines (SOP) for treatment such as including cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, radiotherapy and neonatal care under PMJAY-MA, which will be announced soon, said the release.

The action was taken against the four hospitals after a visit by members of the State Anti-Fraud Unit under PMJAY and expert doctors, the government said.

In the latest action, Krishna Surgical Hospital and Swastik Multi Speciality Hospital (both in Rajkot) have been de-panelled from the scheme for irregularities, while Jayaben Modi Hospital in Bharuch and Bankers Super Speciality Hospital in Vadodara have been penalised, stated the release.

The crackdown has come after the death of two PMJAY beneficiaries following botched angioplasties at Ahmedabad-based Khyati Multi-speciality Hospital last month, which triggered widespread outrage and led to registration of three FIRs against officials of the private medical facility.

"An audit was conducted by an insurance company at Swastik Multi Speciality Hospital in Rajkot, in which tampering was found in USG (Ultrasound Sonography) plates and HPE (Histopathological Examination) reports in a total of 196 cases," the release said.

A total of Rs 2.95 crore fine was imposed on Swastik Multi Speciality Hospital and a specialist doctor associated with the said irregularities dismissed from the scheme, it said.

Action was taken against Krishna Surgical Hospital after it was found its building use permission and fire NOC (no objection certificate) had expired. Further, required manpower was not present in the hospital as per the scheme's guidelines, the release noted.

A sum of Rs 33.4 lakh will be recovered from the hospital, and a decision regarding penalty will be taken by the SGRC (State Grievance Redressal Committee), it said, news agency PTI reported.

The government has decided to recover an amount of Rs 57.5 lakh from Bankers Super Specialty Hospital for committing irregularities, said the release.

PMJAY-MA is a joint medical care scheme that combines the Centre's Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana and the state's Mukhyamantri Amrutum.

The objective of the state scheme is to improve access of BPL families to quality medical and surgical care for the treatment of identified diseases involving hospitalization, surgeries and therapies through a network of health care providers.

Also Read:PCMC Launches Inquiry into alleged Financial Irregularities at Jijamata Hospital