Ramp up Infrastructure: Delhi HC on lack of machines at Government Hospitals

New Delhi: Expressing disappointment over the health infrastructure at state-run hospitals, the Delhi High Court on Monday criticised the state government for having only six CT scan machines in government hospitals catering to three crore people.   

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora expressed anger over the fact that these hospitals that witness maximum footfall a day only have six CT scan machines to treat the population in the capital. 

"There are six CT scan machines in all government hospitals for the whole of Delhi, which has a population of three crore. How can you have just six CT scan machines for a population of three crore? Infrastructure needs to be ramped up many times. How are you going to augment it, it can't be done overnight?" the bench said, adding that enough consideration has not been paid to the health sector for a long time. 

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It also said that people are losing lives as they are not being attended to at government hospitals due to a shortage of facilities and staff. To overcome the issue, the court stressed the need to ramp up infrastructure and fill vacancies in the health sector for the patients to get immediate and improved healthcare treatment. 

The court said that while the health secretary claimed that all six CT scan machines are functional, affidavits have been given by two institutions in a different matter saying these are not fully functional, PTI reports.

"They say it has been lying in a state of dysfunction for a very long time. Your officers are not briefing you properly. We sitting in this court know they are not functioning properly and there are frequent breakdowns in the machines. How come you don't know about it? it asked.

The court said it does not wish to enter any blame game and added that there may be historical reasons for it as the infrastructure has not been ramped up for many years.

The court was hearing a PIL initiated on its own in 2017 concerning the issue of the non-availability of ICU beds and ventilator facilities in government hospitals.

Medical Dialogues team had reported in January that a man succumbed to his injuries after being denied treatment by three Delhi government and one central government hospital on various pretexts, including non-availability of ICU/ventilator bed or CT scan.

The victim was stated to have been taken to the Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, the Lok Nayak Hospital and the Centre's Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

The court noted that Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, in a status report, has admitted that there are a lot of shortcomings, including a shortage of doctors, paramedics and medicines, and also given his suggestions.

Bharadwaj, who inspected several government hospitals, claimed that Delhi Health Secretary SB Deepak Kumar remained absent whenever he convened meetings with hospital staff. 

However, Kumar, who was present in the court, denied the allegations and said he attended all the meetings.

"I have accompanied the minister in various hospitals and, wherever I have not been able to go, I informed him and sent my OSD (Officer on Special Duty) or some other officials with him. I have always been there in the meetings and the minister's minutes of meetings will show my presence," Kumar submitted.

The Delhi government runs 39 hospitals.

Bharadwaj, in the status report, filed through Santosh Kumar Tripathi -- the Delhi government's standing counsel -- said the existing hospitals, which have been functional for decades, have vacancies of more than 33 per cent of the total sanctioned strength for doctors (more than 75 per cent sanctioned posts are vacant in some specialities) and more than 20 per cent of the total sanctioned strength of paramedics, leading to under-utilisation of the existing infrastructure.

The report said the minister wrote to Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena on January 2, urging him further to request the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and direct the Services department to expedite the selection and appointment of doctors and paramedics.

He also requested Saxena to direct the Health and Family Welfare department to take necessary steps for hiring doctors and paramedics against the vacant sanctioned posts on a contractual basis for one year or till regular incumbents join through UPSC/DSSSB (Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board ), whichever is earlier.

The court asked the health secretary how the authorities plan to ramp up hospital infrastructure.

Pointing out the issue that only six CT scans are available at government hospitals, the court said "No one should try to pass the buck and, if there is any challenge, it should be taken head-on. When three crore people are looking up to us, we should not say there is some squabbling going on between us. You should not convey that impression, then it becomes very difficult to deal with the challenge, so all parties should behave maturely."

It said judges are not cut out from society and they also know how machines provided by the government function.

"You have to ramp up your infrastructure, this can't happen if you don't have a CT scan machine in a cancer hospital. You have to improve manpower," it said.

The bench, which said it intends to set up a committee to look into the shortcomings, consider the suggestions of various authorities and give a report to the court, asked the various departments involved in the matter to give their reports and suggestions by February 9.

The court also asked the health secretary to look into the issue of the large number of vacancies.

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